WHITE HOUSE CONNECTION TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

Barack Obama's envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) found himself in the middle of a controversy recently over sympathetic things he said about convicted terrorist fundraiser, Sami al-Arian. He said those things at a 2004 Muslim Students Association (MSA) event and had to admit to them when a recording of the event surfaced. More on that controversy here.

Shockingly, Hussain remained on the job despite both his comments and an apparent attempt to erase them from the public record. The New York Times is now reporting on the White House's continued emphasis on strengthening relations with the Islamic world:

(Obama's) administration has reached out to this politically isolated constituency in a sustained and widening effort that has left even skeptics surprised.

Muslim and Arab-American advocates have participated in policy discussions and received briefings from top White House aides and other officials on health care legislation, foreign policy, the economy, immigration and national security. They have met privately with a senior White House adviser, Valerie Jarrett, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to discuss civil liberties concerns and counterterrorism strategy.

Apparently, part of this outreach included lifting the ban on a man named Tariq Ramadan from entering the United States. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the papers that lifted the ban recently:

Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Muslim academic, visited the United States for the first time in six years after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reversed a decision by the Bush administration, which had barred Mr. Ramadan from entering the country, initially citing the U.S.A. Patriot Act. Mrs. Clinton also cleared the way for another well-known Muslim professor, Adam Habib, who had been denied entry under similar circumstances.

Much of the relevance of Ramadan's travel ban being lifted has to do with his family tree. Ramadan's maternal grandfather was a man named Hassan al-Banna, who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. The Brotherhood is also the umbrella for several groups linked to Islamic terrorism, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), and even Hamas. Ramadan has clearly not renounced his ties to this group. Neither has Hussain denounced his words about al-Arian or the MSA event where he said them.

On April 28th, Obama's Islamic envoy (Hussain) will be delivering a speech at an event put on by the Center for the Study of Islamic and Democracy (CSID). Also delivering a speech at the event is none other than Tariq Ramadan.

The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report has more.