[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 77 (Friday, June 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  THE STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS ISSUING A VISA TO A VIOLENT ISLAMIC 
 FUNDAMENTALIST; HASN'T STATE LEARNED ITS LESSON FROM THE TRADE CENTER 
                                BOMBING?

                                 ______


                         HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 17, 1994

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit for the Record the 
following article from the May 13, 1994, edition of New York's Forward 
newspaper. This article discusses in disturbing detail the State 
Department's current consideration of a visa request by Sheikh Rashid 
el-Ghanoushi, the convicted leader of Tunisia's violent Islamic 
fundamentalist movement.
  As ranking Republican of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on 
International Operations, last year I led an investigation into the 
legislative weaknesses and incredible bureaucratic bungling that led to 
the State Department repeatedly issuing American visas to the radical 
Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who had at that time already 
been implicated in the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. Now, 15 
months after the bombing of the World Trade Center by followers of 
Sheikh Abdel Rahman--and just before the Sheikh himself is set to go on 
trial for his part in the bombing--the State Department is apparently 
considering making the same mistake by granting a visa to his Tunisian 
equivalent, Sheikh Ghanoushi.
  Tunisia is a pro-Western moderate country surrounded and threatened 
on one side by the radical regime in Libya and on the other by a strong 
Iranian-style fundamentalist movement in Algeria, which Ghanoushi is 
trying to export to Tunisia. And yet, it seems that the State 
Department is currently involved in anguished hand-wringing over the 
visa application, out of concern that there must be a presumption of a 
right to come to the United States unless it can prove that Sheikh 
Ghanoushi was at some point personally involved in a terrorist act.
  It apparently is not enough that Ghanoushi fled Tunisia after his 
underground organization launched violent attacks against the 
Government of Tunisia. It apparently is not enough that he has been 
convicted in absentia to life imprisonment in Tunisia for his personal 
involvement in planning his group's attempts to overthrow the 
Government and assassinate Tunisia's President Ben Ali. It apparently 
is not enough that he has denounced the United States for its support 
for Israel, and has stated, ``The Jewish Satans have been at work * * * 
to promote the current hellish marriage between the American-led 
Western project and the Jewish project to jointly destroy the Islamic 
world and control its riches.''
  Mr. Speaker, after my investigation into the Sheikh Abdel Rahman 
case, I introduced H.R. 2041, the Terrorist Interdiction Act. This 
legislation was a package of reforms in the State Department's visa and 
consular operations to stop the Department from repeating its mistakes 
in issuing a visa to Sheikh Abdel Rahman. All but one of the reforms 
contained in that bill were enacted as a part of the fiscal year 1994-
95 State Department Authorization Act. Unfortunately, the one part that 
was not enacted into law is that section of H.R. 2041 that would 
automatically deny visas to members of terrorist groups. This was not 
enacted because it is under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary 
Committee, which has not yet reported out any legislation this Congress 
relating to immigration reform, visa procedures, or criminal aliens.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that the State Department will use its existing 
discretionary authority to deny entry to Sheikh Ghanoushi. I also hope 
that my colleagues take note of this case, and understand that passage 
of my legislation is needed now, more than ever.

               [From the New York Forward, May 13, 1994]

  Tunisian Terror Sheik Sparks Furor on Hill--``Would-Be Ayatollah'' 
                      Seeks Entry to United States

                          (By Lucette Lagnado)

       New York.--A militantly anti-West, anti-Israel sheik--
     dubbed ``the would-be Ayatollah of Tunisia''--is attempting 
     to gain entry into America over the objections of key 
     American senators and the Tunisian government, which is 
     warning that granting him a visa would be tantamount to a 
     ``hostile act.''
       For the past several weeks, a visa application for Sheik 
     Rashid el-Ghanoushi, the exiled leader of Tunisia's Islamic 
     fundamentalist movement, has been pending inside the State 
     Department, even as a battle rages both at Foggy Bottom and 
     in Congress over whether to keep him out of this country. Key 
     staffers of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have 
     expressed unease over his possible arrival, while a ranking 
     Republican, Senator Brown, has urged the State Department to 
     exercise extreme caution in its decision-making.


                          ``hellish marriage''

       The possible arrival of the sheik is forcing a re-
     examination of American visa policies, including how generous 
     the State Department should be in granting entry papers to 
     controversial individuals who, though not formally branded as 
     ``terrorists,'' are known for espousing extremist views. The 
     debate comes as Sheik Ghanoushi's notorious counterpart, the 
     Egyptian cleric, Omar Abdel Rahmad, is scheduled to go on 
     trial in New York for his alleged connection to a plot to 
     blow up key New York landmarks, including the Lincoln and 
     Holland tunnels and the United Nations. The fight over Sheik 
     Ghanoushi--who has referred to Israel as a ``cancer,'' 
     condemned Jews as ``Satanic'' and denounced the so-called 
     ``hellish marriage'', between America and Jews that seek ``to 
     jointly destroy the Islamic world''--was precipitated several 
     weeks ago when the University of Southern Florida invited him 
     to participate in a conference, scheduled for mid-May. 
     Although the conference has been postponed, the invitation 
     remains in effect, and the State Department must decide what 
     to do about the sheik.
       ``The information we were given raises very serious 
     questions about whether Sheik Ghanoushi should be admitted 
     into the U.S.,'' a top aide to Senator Brown told the 
     Forward. ``The Tunisians are gravely concerned about what 
     they describe as Sheik Ghanoushi's terrorist involvement as 
     well as a spillover of fundamentalist instability,'' he 
     added.
       Senator Brown has sent a letter to Secretary of State 
     Christopher, asking him to evaluate reports that the sheik 
     has sponsored and supported ``violent action against 
     Americans, against American allies, and wholesale disruption 
     of the Middle East peace process.'' Senator D'Amato, a New 
     York Republican, has also raised objections about the sheik, 
     as have staffers for Senator Helms of North Carolina.


                              london exile

       Although Sheik Ghanoushi was sentenced in absentia to life 
     imprisonment in 1989 for attempting to overthrow the Tunisian 
     government--and accused of plotting to kill its president--
     some Democrats on the committee believe that the Tunisian 
     government is overreacting. They note that the sheik was 
     granted asylum by Britain, a country, they say, that would be 
     loath to welcome a terrorist in its midst.
       ``There are values we strongly stand for as Americans, and 
     one of them is freedom of speech,'' said another Foreign 
     Relations Committee staffer. Before we make a decision we 
     want proof [of terrorist involvement] and saying ugly stuff 
     is not sufficient.''
       A State Department official told the Forward the agency 
     ``received an application [from the sheik] and the matter is 
     under consideration.'' He refused to elaborate.
       Even from his London exile, Sheik Ghanoushi has been openly 
     calling for the overthrow of the Tunisian regime of President 
     Ben Ali, and the calls have grown more strident since 
     elections in March. After Mr. Ben Ali--the only candidate for 
     president--received 99.91 percent of the vote, the sheik 
     signed a communique urging Tunisians ``to unite to rid the 
     country of this specter of dictatorship.'' according to a 
     wire-service report.
       Despite its obvious failings, Tunisia, according to Daniel 
     Pipes, editor of the Middle East Quarterly, ``is among the 
     better of the autocracies.'' Mr. Pipes says the Tunisian 
     government is terrified because of the growing fundamentalist 
     fervor in neighboring Algeria. The Tunisians--who have 
     relatively progressive policies toward women and Jews--
     believe that, if given a chance, Sheik Ghanoushi would 
     swiftly radicalize the country.


                           ``jewish satans''

       According to Mr. Pipes and other sources, the sheik has 
     been spotted at a number of key Islamic conferences in Iran 
     and the Sudan that were also attended by other radical 
     clerics. Mr. Pipes likened these conferences to a sort of 
     ``Islamic Internacionale,'' where the leaders are united in 
     their staunch hatred of America, the West and Israel. ``Yes, 
     they speak different languages and eat different foods--but 
     that's not what counts. What counts is ideology,'' Mr. Pipes 
     said.
       In Tampa, Todd Simmons, spokesman for the University of 
     South Florida, confirmed that the sheik had been invited to 
     be part of a ``roundable'' discussion among scholars. ``I 
     know nothing about the man or his politics,'' Mr. Simmons 
     said, insisting that the invitation did not mean the college 
     ``is endorsing or sanctioning any of his beliefs.''
       Sheik Ghanoushi is said to be considerably more worldly--
     and more slick--than his Islamic counterparts. He dresses in 
     Western-style suits and can be spotted giving interviews to 
     journalists in fashionable London tearooms.
       Statements attributed to the sheik and provided to the 
     Forward by Senator Brown's office suggest that his views 
     smack of a peculiar branch of anti-Semitism that combines 
     classic European anti-Jewish canards, blended with a 
     distinctly Arabist tinge. ``The Jewish Satans have been at 
     work since the . . . Renaissance and the Reformation in 
     Europe to promote the current hellish marriage between the 
     American-led Western project and the Jewish project to 
     jointly destroy the Islamic world and control its riches'' is 
     but one example among many now under State Department 
     scrutiny.

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