In a letter issued by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) on Tuesday, the scholars called on US Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge to authorize a work permit for Ramadan, a Swiss national.

The 41-year-old was scheduled to take up a teaching post at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in August, but was barred at the last minute when the US State Department rescinded his visa.

US authorities have refused to comment in detail on Ramadan’s case, but the move has been widely censured by US academics, who suspect Ramadan was barred because of his criticism of US foreign policy.

“Although Dr. Ramadan has voiced criticism of some US and Israeli policies in Palestine, the war in Iraq, and US support for authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, such opinions constitute no reason to deny him a visa,” the center’s board of directors said in the letter.

Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies appointed Ramadan as Henry Luce professor of religion, conflict, and peace-building earlier this year after a thorough vetting procedure.

The author of several books, including Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Ramadan has called for greater assimilation of European Muslims and has been an outspoken critic of the Muslim community’s inclination toward insularity.

Many see him as a moderate voice in the Muslim world who could make a valuable contribution to the US debate about Islam, but he has also been dogged by accusations of supporting the Al Qaeda network and of being anti-Semitic – charges he denies.AFP