This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1927

Muslims at Saudi funded Geneva Islamic Center run by banned prof Tariq Ramadan's family plotted to down El Al plane

Al Qaeda cell members arrested throughout Switzerland : Islamic Center director Hani Ramadan PR:"We have nothing to hide"
May 21, 2006

MIM: Saudi King Abdulaziz's own website proudly announced they support the Islamic Center in Geneva to the tune of 19 million SR. a year.

http://www.kingfahdbinabdulaziz.com/main/m4502.htm

...The Islamic Center in Geneva, Switzerland The Center, which receives annual support of SR 19 million, contains a large Mosque, a cultural center, a school and a lecture hall..."

MIM: The Imam of the Center Hani Ramadan is the brother of Tariq Ramadan who was denied entry into the United States after being given a professorship at the University of Notre Dame, because of terrorism ties and labelled a threat to national security, The ACLU is helping him appeal the decision.

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=1527150

MIM:Former Imam Hani Ramadan was fired in 2002 for advocating death by stoning for adulterers.

"...The canton of Geneva has fired teacher, Hani Ramadan, a Muslim cleric, for his controversial remarks published in the French newspaper, "Le Monde".

Geneva has strict laws separating church and state which restrict cantonal employees' freedom of expression.

Ramadan told swissinfo he would be appealing against the ruling.

Geneva officials said their decision to fire Ramadan was based on the "anti-democratic" nature of his remarks.

In the article, which was published in September, Ramadan defended death by stoning for adultery as set out in Islamic Sharia law. He also said that believers were protected from being infected with Aids. Unlike non-believers and sinners, they could only be infected through a botched blood transfusion.

Ramadan is an Imam and the director of the Islamic Centre of Geneva. An investigation into the affair commissioned by the Geneva authorities found that his role as a religious representative was incompatible with his status as a teacher in a state school.

"Ramadan said the international community has the unfortunate habit of equating certain acts of reistance with barbarism..."

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See PR below engish article where Geneva Islamic Center director Ramadan responds to the arrest of several of congregants plotting to bring down an EL Al plane by stating "we have nothing to hide".

Which is the case according to his Islamo facist weltaanshauung, since he stated in 2002 that 'acts of resistance' which would include killing all the passengers on a commerical plane would mistakenly be seen by the non Muslim world as an act of barbarism.

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El Al Plane in Geneva Saved From Terrorists' Rocket
10:46 May 19, '06
by Hillel Fendel

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=103918


The Swiss intelligence agency uncovered a terrorist gang planning to blow up an El Al plane during take-off, and for a week, diverted all El Al flights to Zurich.

It has only now been publicized that an unnamed Islamic terror gang planned to fire an RPG missile at a plane as it took off from the Geneva airport. The Swiss agents first learned of the terrorists' plans five months ago.

An undercover agent inside the Islamic Center in Geneva became friendly with several immigrants from Arab countries, and they told him of their intentions. The terrorists had planned to flee to Iraq after the attack.

Armed with the alarming information, the Swiss security service investigated the airport and environs. The warning was also submitted to the local police, but no arrests were made in the case.

For a week, El Al planes were kept away from Geneva, flying to Zurich - 140 miles to the northeast - instead. El Al was contacted for its response following publication of the story, but said that it does not comment on security matters.

Many El Al planes are equipped with the FlightGuard system, designed to interfere with shoulder-fired missiles. FlightGuard creates another source of heat, in addition to the plane's engines, so that the heat-guided missiles will be misled and diverted away from the plane.

According to U.S. State Department estimates, shoulder-fired missiles have downed 25 airplanes and killed over 600 people since the 1970s. The weapons – termed MANPADs (man-portable, air defense systems) – are a favorite among terrorist groups, as they are relatively inexpensive and easy to transport and conceal.

-------------------------------------

Rocket from Russia

Phone taps on the terrorists revealed that the terrorists planned to smuggle an RPG rocket from Russia and fire it at the plane, before escaping to Iraq.

Kuvasi gave a warning about the terrorist attack to his handlers on December 12, 2005.

Following the intelligence, local security forces carried out a check around the airport to see how tangible the threat was.

The warning was also given to the Swiss police, but as far as is known, no suspects in the organization were arrested.

---------------------------------------------------------------

MIM:According to YNet news the agent in question is not 'in hiding' as was stated in the Swiss press, but has disappeared and gone 'AWOL' .

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3252772,00.html

Agent gone AWOL

According to reports from Europe, El Al, which runs three flights a week on the Tel Aviv – Geneva route, did not take any chances, and moved to the Zurich airport for a week. El Al did not respond to the episode and said it does not discuss security matters with the media.

The episode was kept secret for six months, until the Swiss agent exposed it on his own. Kuvasi, who became closer to the head of the Islamic center in Geneva, Hani Ramadan, feared that his new friend will face complications due to the fact that some of his students planned a terror attack. Kuvasi wrote a letter to Ramdadan saying his conscience guided him and he was therefore obligated to reveal how Swiss intelligence spied on him.

The revelation has since taken a bizarre twist, with the Blick newspaper reporting that Kuvasi, who recently carried out a spying job in Syria, escaped his handlers, and is hiding in Egypt. The former agent is now hoping that the current revelation will prevent Swiss intelligence from interrogating and torturing Islamic suspects.

---------------------------------------------------------

Press release issued by Hani Ramadan the director of the Islamic Center of Geneva.

MIM: Translation by Beila Rabinowitz director of MIM:

In the wake of information relating to the press and media about the infilitration of an agent into the Islamic Center of Geneva, I have the following observations to make.

1) Given past experience, it appears to be necessary to avoid all kinds of over blown media polemic and to promote dialouge in all circumstances. I will limit myself to the following:

2) As I have always said the Islamic Center of Geneva has nothing to hide or defend, regarding it's activities in the realm of openness and transparency. The two years of secretly conducted investigations by an agent recruited by the Department of Federal Justice and the police.confirm the former, because they have never initiated any official inquiry or sanctions against the Islamic Center of Geneva.

3) I received a written confession in the form of an apology from the agent in question the same day when he decided to go public via the press. Out of consideration for that person who was already manipulated, I would prefer not to make this public.

4) Finally, in my capacity as a Swiss citizen, taking into account the possibility of further legal actions, I have full confidence in the functioning of our institutions. I am also convinced that our Parliament with do everything possible to shed light on this affair , to avoid all kinds of allegations, which could damage the reputation of our country.

Hany Ramadan

Director of the Islamic Center of Geneva

March 9. 2006

MIM:: Note that Ramadan who complained that the media labelled Islamist atrocity as barbarism and was the subject of a court action for supporting stoning as a form of execution , expresses his concern as a Swiss citizen that the country's reputation will be damaged because several of his congregants linked to Al Qaeda were caught planning to bring down an El Al plane

---------------------------------

Original text of Islamic Center of Geneva press release:

Communiqué de presse

http://www.cige.org/Actualites/SpyCommuniquePresse.htm

Suite aux informations relatées par la presse et les médias autour de l'infiltration d'un agent au Centre Islamique de Genève, je tiens à faire part des observations suivantes :

  1. Expérience faite par le passé, il me semble nécessaire d'éviter toute surmédiatisation polémique et de privilégier le dialogue en toute circonstance. Je me limiterai dès lors à préciser ce qui suit :
  2. Comme je l'ai toujours dit, le Centre Islamique de Genève n'a rien à cacher et préconise, au niveau de l'ensemble de ses activités, la transparence et l'ouverture. Les deux années d'investigations secrètes menées par un agent recruté par le Département fédéral de justice et police le confirment d'ailleurs, puisqu'elles n'ont entraîné aucune enquête officielle ou sanction à l'encontre du Centre Islamique de Genève.
  3. J'ai reçu une confession écrite sous forme d'excuses de l'agent en question le jour même où il a décidé de s'exprimer par voie de presse. Par égard pour cette personne qui a déjà été manipulée, je préfère ne pas la rendre publique.
  4. Enfin, en ma qualité de citoyen suisse, et sans exclure une réflexion sur une éventuelle démarche judiciaire, j'ai pleinement confiance dans le fonctionnement de nos institutions. Je suis ainsi convaincu que notre Parlement saura faire toute la lumière sur cette affaire, afin d'éviter à l'avenir de tels dérapages, qui ternissent la réputation de notre pays.

    Hani RAMADAN

    Directeur du Centre Islamique de Genève

    9 Mars 2006

    -------------------------------

    http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news/schweiz/627000.html

    BA ermittlelt gegen Jihadisten
    Die von der Bundesanwaltschaft ausgelösten Hausdurchsuchungen und Festnahmen vom vergangenen 12. Mai betreffen einen Fall im Umfeld militanter Jihadisten in der Schweiz.

    Dies gab der Sprecher der Bundesanwaltschaft (BA) auf Anfrage zu einem Bericht der «SonntagsZeitung» bekannt.

    Die Strafverfolgungsbehörden des Bundes sowie der Kantone Basel-Stadt und Zürich hatten am vergangenen 12. Mai Hausdurchsuchungen an verschiedenen Orten vorgenommen und sieben ausländische Staatsangehörige festgenommen. Gegen drei von ihnen ordnete der Haftrichter auf Antrag der BA inzwischen Untersuchungshaft an. Bisher hatte die Bundesanwaltschaft lediglich erklärt, es gehe um den Verdacht der Unterstützung oder Mitgliedschaft in einer kriminellen Organisation.

    Anschläge auf Flugzeuge geplant?

    Die «SonntagsZeitung» meldete nun, bei den Verhafteten handle es sich um Islamisten einer Organisation mit Verbindungen zum Terrornetzwerk von al-Qaida. Mindestens zwei von ihnen hätten angeblich einen Anschlag auf ein Flugzeug der israelischen Airline el-Al in Genf geplant. Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more! Click here to find out more!

    BA-Sprecher Hansjürg Mark Wiedmer verwies auf das laufende Verfahren und entsprechend hohe Kollusionsgefahr. Deshalb könnten grundsätzlich keine Auskünfte erteilt werden. Wiedmer räumte aber ein, dass die Ermittlungen «ins Umfeld militanter Jihadisten» in der Schweiz führten. Es bestehe allerdings kein direkter Zusammenhang zwischen den drei Verhaftungen und den in den Medien erwähnten Plänen für einen Anschlag auf israelische Passagierflugzeuge, die vom Genfer Flughafen Genf-Cointrin aus starteten.

    Weitere Angaben machte Wiedmer nicht, auch nicht zur Nationalität der drei Inhaftierten. In der Mitteilung vom 12. Mai hatte es geheissen, der Aktion in Basel und Zürich seien längere Ermittlungen der Bundeskriminalpolizei unter Leitung der BA vorausgegangen. (cpm/ap)


    ------------------

    Schweizer Geheime Dienst veritelt terroranslag auf EL AL

    http://www.aero.de/news.php?varnewsid=201

    GENF - Wie erst heute bekannt wurde, hat ein Geheimagent der Schweiz im Dezember 2005 offenbar einen Anschlag auf ein Flugzeug der israelischen Airline El-Al verhindern können. Nach Informationen der Zeitung „Blick", haben Ermittlungen des Agenten Claude Covassi (36) in der schweizer Islamistenszene sehr konkrete Pläne einer Terrorzelle offengelegt. Sie beabsichtigte den Abschuss einer El-Al Machine bei Genf mit einem in Russland beschafften, mobilen Boden/Luft-Raketensystem.

    Covassi informierte daraufhin Kollegen des israelischen Geheimdienstes Mossad. Alle Flüge der El-Al in die Schweiz wurden am Tag des geplanten Attentats nach Zürich umgeleitet. Die Terrorverdächtigen, drei Immigranten aus dem arabischen Raum, konnten indes trotz eines umfassenden Fahndungsdossiers bisher nicht gestellt werden.

    Der Agent selbst ist derzeit im Ausland untergetaucht und wartet auf seine Anhörung vor dem schweizer Parlament. Nach Medienberichten soll es schwere Streitigkeiten zwischen ihm und übergeordneten Ermittlungsbehörden gegeben hat, die den Vorfall betreffen. Dies könnte die offizielle Klärung der Geschehnisse weiter verzögern.

    Die El-Al gilt als die terrorgefährdetste Airline der Welt. Ihre Maschinen sind mit modernster Sicherheitstechnologie ausgestattet, die Besatzungen speziell geschult. Sie war die erste Fluggesellschaft, auf deren Routen sich regelmäßig ein bewaffneter Skymarshall an Bord befindet.

    December 19, 2002 - 3:40 PM

    '----------------------------------------------------------------

    MIM: In 2002 banned scholar Tariq Ramadan's brother Hani the Iman at the family run Islamic Center of Geneva told Swiss News that: "The international community has the habit of confusing certain acts with barbarism "

    http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=1527150

    Muslim teacher fired for violating Geneva laws

    Ramadan has defended his remarks and will lodge an appeal at the Swiss federal court

    Ramadan has defended his remarks and will lodge an appeal at the Swiss federal court (Keystone)

    The canton of Geneva has fired teacher, Hani Ramadan, a Muslim cleric, for his controversial remarks published in the French newspaper, "Le Monde".

    Geneva has strict laws separating church and state which restrict cantonal employees' freedom of expression.

    Ramadan told swissinfo he would be appealing against the ruling.

    Geneva officials said their decision to fire Ramadan was based on the "anti-democratic" nature of his remarks.

    In the article, which was published in September, Ramadan defended death by stoning for adultery as set out in Islamic Sharia law. He also said that believers were protected from being infected with Aids. Unlike non-believers and sinners, they could only be infected through a botched blood transfusion.

    Ramadan is an Imam and the director of the Islamic Centre of Geneva. An investigation into the affair commissioned by the Geneva authorities found that his role as a religious representative was incompatible with his status as a teacher in a state school.

    Church and state

    Geneva, which is a Protestant canton, forbids any overlap between religious and secular authorities.

    The investigation - which was conducted by the former public prosecutor, Bernard Bertossa - also found that, as a state employee, Ramadan had violated his obligation to refrain from airing controversial views.

    Bertossa wrote in his report that Ramadan expressed "opinions clearly incompatible with the values that the public school must defend".

    Cantonal regulations stipulate that "state employees must remain non-religious or secular."

    An exception, however, is made for teaching staff at Swiss universities who have greater freedom to express their personal beliefs.

    Controversial remarks

    The article caused a public outcry. The Commission Against Racism publicly reprimanded Ramadan, saying he had damaged the image of the Muslim community in Switzerland.

    One month later, cantonal authorities suspended him from his post as a French teacher in a state school.

    This is not the first time that Ramadan has got on the wrong side of Geneva cantonal law.

    He previously received two warnings for publicly voicing his beliefs. On one occasion, he participated in a demonstration outside the United Nations in Geneva in support of Palestinians.

    Legal challenge

    Ramadan told swissinfo that he would challenge Geneva's ruling. He said he would lodge an appeal at Switzerland's federal court, which is located in Lausanne.

    In an interview published in Thursday's edition of "Le Nouvelliste" newspaper, he rejected the point made in Bertossa's report that he is a religious figure. In his 20 years as an employee of the canton, Ramadan said he had never encountered problems expressing his views.

    Ramadan continues to stand by the content of the "Le Monde" article.

    "Muslims living in Europe have the right…to bear witness to their faith and their convictions," he said in another newspaper article, "even if it offends those who judge them before understanding them."

    "I will pursue all legal means to assert my rights," he told swissinfo on Thursday.

    Ramadan is a well-known thinker in the Muslim world and has published several articles on Islamic life.

    Misunderstood

    Ramadan said the international community "has an unfortunate habit of confusing certain acts of resistance with barbarism".

    But leaders in Switzerland's Islamic community are concerned by the content of the article written by Ramadan.

    Taner Hatipogliu, deputy head of the society of Islamic organisations in Zurich, said that the furore surrounding Ramadan had served to take Switzerland's Muslim community "ten steps back".

    "This type of publicity harms all the activities undertaken in the area of integration [into Swiss society]," Hatipogliu told swissinfo.

    swissinfo, Samantha Tonkin

    CONTEXT

    A Geneva-born teacher, Ramadan says he will appeal against the canton's decision to fire him for writing a newspaper article in which he defended the death penalty as set out in Islamic Sharia law.

    An investigation found that Ramadan's role as a religious representative was incompatible with his status as a state employee.

    Ramadan is also head of the Islamic Centre of Geneva.

    RELATED SITES

    -----------------------------

    http://jcb.blogs.com/jcb_blog/2005/11/ali_ghaleb_himm.html

    November 23, 2005

    Al Taqwa, the Ramadan brothers and Pakistani radicals

    Ali Ghaleb Himmat and Ahmed Idris Nasreddin have been designated as financiers of terror for their involvement in Al Taqwa Bank, an Islamic financial institution that, according to the OFAC, "provided investment advice and cash transfer mechanisms for Al Qaida and other radical Islamic groups". Ali Ghaleb Himmat, was designated by the United States on November 7, 2001, and by the United Nations on November 9, 2001, Ahmed Idris Nasreddin was designated by the G7 on April 19, 2002, and by the United Nations on April 24, 2002 . While several companies owned or managed by Himmat and Nasreddin were subsequently designated and procedures opened against them by several nations (with more or less success – see Newsweek story), both of them remained in the board of trustees of a UK charity until the mid-2003. Records of the "Islamic Foundation" at that date mention the names of "Ahmad I. Nasreddin" and "Ghalib Himmat" (Islamic Foundation, Trustees' report and audited financial statements, 2003). It's only in May 2003 that the UK Charity Commission "discovered by its monitoring process" that two of the individuals named on the United Nations Sanctions Committee Consolidated List under resolution 1390 (2002) matched the names of two individuals listed as trustees of the charity, and decided to open a formal inquiry.

    And according to the inquiry report, it's only on July 9, 2003 that the board of trustees of the charity met and "unanimously accepted letters of resignation from the two trustees" . The Islamic Foundation is an Islamic center for education, training, research and publication established in 1973 by Ahmad Khurshid, an Islamic scholar who has held various positions in economic and philanthropic institutions in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and is the current Vice-President (Naib Ameer) of Jamaat E Islami in Pakistan . Jamaat E Islami (JEI) is a fundamentalist group with many links to the Al Qaeda network. While denying these links, the organization was listed as a terrorist group by the Russia's Supreme Court on February 14, 2003 and is accused of financing terrorist organizations within Chechnya. According to a Spanish intelligence report, at least six terrorist training camps in Afghanistan (including Suleiman Farsi Camp and Al-Badar in the Khost province) were financed or controlled by JEI ("Informe sobre arabes afganos y el concepto internacional de terrorista Islamica", Tomo 25, Spanish procedure 35/01 on Al-Qaida). According to Kabul Payam-e Mojahed in Dari, weekly newspaper of JEI, when Osama Bin Laden traveled to Pakistan in 1981, he donated money for the Mujahideen, and gave it to the JEI Pakistan in Lahore ("I Used to Love Usama", Kabul Payam-e Mojahed in Dari 17 Jun 04) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in the house of a JEI leader and at least four other top Al Qaeda figures had ties to JEI (« Terrorism in South Asia », CRS Report RL 32259, December 13, 2004. Interestingly, Jamaat E Islami contact details in Lahore appeared in the Al Taqwa phonebook seized by the Italian police during searches of Youssef Nada's house, the Al Taqwa founder. The UK Islamic Foundation denies any link with Jamaat E Islami but still publishes biographies and various texts of the JEI founder, Maulana Sayyid abul A'la Mawdudi, a modern jihad theorician. One of his books, "Jihad fi sabilillah" (Jihad in Islam) was even translated by Ahmad Khurshid. Mawdudi here defines the concept of a global jihad: "[T]he objective of the Islamic Jihad is to eliminate the rule of an unIslamic system, and establish in its place an Islamic system of state rule"… "The division of Islamic Jihad into "offensive" and "defensive" is not permissible. Islamic Jihad is both offensive and defensive at the same time. It is offensive because the Muslim Party attacks the rule of an opposing ideology, and it is defensive because the Muslim Party is constrained to capture state power in order to protect the principles of Islam in space-time forces." Maulana Mawdudi was a founding member of the Muslim World League (MWL) in 1962, along with Said Ramadan, son-in-law of Hassan Al Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Interestingly, another trustee of the Islamic Foundation in Leicester is Abdullah Omar Naseef. Naseef is the former deputy chairman of the Saudi Shura Council, former Secretary General of the Muslim World League and founder of Rabita Trust, a subsidiary of the MWL which was designated SDGT on October 12, 2001. Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, co-founder of Al-Qaida, was appointed to its Board of Trustees in February 2000 and served as Rabita Trust Director General. Wa'el Julaidan was also designated as financier of terror on September 6, 2002. The nexus formed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistani radical groups under the auspices of the Al Taqwa Bank management is also evidenced elsewhere in Europe, including in Switzerland.

    Despite his designation by the US and UN as financier of terror, Ghaleb Himmat is still a member of the board of a charity based in Geneva. The official registration of the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO), Sharq Koweït, Geneva Office, reflects that three directors of the Islamic Foundation in London are members of the board of the IICO in Switzerland: Ghaleb Himmat, Ahmad Khurshid and Abdullah Omar Naseef. Youssef Al Qardawi also seats on the board of directors of the organization. Other board members include Saleh Abdul Rahman Al Hussayen, uncle of Sami Al Hussayen (IANA), Mani b. Hammad Al-Juhani, Member of the Consultative Council and General Director of World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). Ghaleb Himmat also entertained very close ties with Tariq Ramadan's father Said Ramadan and was a driving force behind his return in Europe in 1958. Said Ramadan, who had lived in Pakistan where he became in the 1950s "cultural ambassador" for the country's Islamic groups , first settled in Germany where he founded the Islamische Gemeinschaft in Deutschland e.V., (IGD) in Munich. Said Ramadan remained President of the IGD until 1968, before Ghaleb Himmat from 1973 until 2002 . The IGD was considered by several German security agencies to be the main body of the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany. The IGD was controlled by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and founded by "MB member Said Ramadan." . Said Ramadan then established the Islamic Center of Geneva in 1961 with several Pakistani scholars. An obvious "moderate" center whose current director, Hani Ramadan recently posted on its website a sermon entitled "Parenthesis on Iraq" in which he opposed the armed insurrection in Al Fallujah, (carried out in its operational base by the followers of the terrorist group Al Qaida in Iraq), to the "true terrorists", "the American administration, Sharon's government, Putin's government". The "moderate" Tariq Ramadan, the new special advisor of the British government, is still a member of the board of the Islamic Center of Geneva with his brothers and sisters, while he often states he is not involved in the Islamic Center. He will probably also state he has nothing to do with Pakistani radicals, while he was recently appointed as visiting scholar of the Islamic Foundation's Institute for Higher Education, known as Markfield Institute of Higher Education and while he already spent one year at Markfield as a lecturer in 1998 and while the Islamic Foundation published several of his books . Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of the MB founder, "shares the heritage" of the Muslim Brotherhood, but denied being one of its members. As part of this legacy, a founding document of the Muslim Brotherhood explains that their strategy is to adapt one's positions to the country in which one finds oneself, so as to "infiltrate the organs of influence" and "have a decisive role in political decisions". The MB founders couldn't find a better set of circumstances

    ------------

    Centre Islamique de Genève

    104, rue des Eaux-Vives 1207 Genève - SUISSE -

    Téléphone : +41 22-736.75.86

    e-mail : [email protected]

    Compte bancaire : Union de Banques Suisses n°33493800Q

    MIM: The Islamic Center of Geneva's website posted an obituary about Tariq Ramadan's father Said in 1995, under the heading

    "The Muslim Brotherhood" 'Politics of 'rabbniya' the prayers before the strength' .

    Concrete proof that Tariq Ramadan and his entire family have direct ties to terrorist groups.

    The recent plot to down an EL AL plane hatched by members of the Ramadan family run Geneva Islamic Center shows that Swiss authorities., who allowed the mosque to stay open for business despite having been linked to Al Qaeda, playing a dangerous game of preemption instead of prevention. Thre inability and unwillingness of the Swiss to deal with the terror threat was highlighted by the release of three of the Arabs who were arrested in the plot and the informant who uncovered the plot is in hiding abroad. (see articles above)

    The last line reads: He is survived by his devoted wife Wafa,daughter of Hassan Al Banna (a founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and influential Jihadist ideolouge) and five sons:Aymen, Bilal, Yasser, Hani, Tariq;a daughter Arwa; and 12 grandchildren.

    http://www.cige.org/historique.htm

    Dr Saïd Ramadan, 1926-1995

    Les Frères Musulmans

    Politique de "rabbaniyya", les prières avant le pouvoir

    Il n'avait plus appelé depuis un certain temps. Au lieu de son appel téléphonique, la nouvelle arriva : le vendredi 4 août, le Dr Saïd Ramadan est décédé dans un hôpital genevois. Il avait subi une opération intestinale le 2 juillet.

    Saïd Ramadan était un des esprits les plus fins du monde musulman. Vif, analytique et stratégique, c'était un grand lecteur en anglais, français et en arabe, et il se tenait au courant des événements qui avaient lieu aussi loin en Indonésie qu'à la porte à côté, en Bosnie. C'était aussi un écrivain raffiné et un puissant orateur; malheureusement toutefois, il n'avait pas écrit ces dernières années. Mais il n'avait pas arrêté de penser et de méditer : cela lui était indispensable. On peut le décrire comme un homme autodidacte, doté d'un immense réservoir de pensées intellectuelles.

    Né le 12 avril 1926 à Shibin El Kom, à quelque 70 kilomètres au nord du Caire, Saïd Ramadan avait vu le jour dans une Egypte en plein renouvellement intellectuel et culturel, inauguré par le mouvement des Frères Musulmans (Al Ikhwan Al Muslimoon), fondé par Hassan Al Banna en 1928. Il était âgé de 14 ans quand il entendit parler Hassan Al Banna dans une conférence à Tanta, et rejoignit le mouvement des Frères Musulmans alors qu'il fréquentait encore l'école secondaire. Après avoir obtenu sa licence en droit de l'Université du Caire en 1946, le jeune homme plein de promesses fut choisi par Al Banna pour devenir son secrétaire personnel. Al Banna le nomma aussi pour éditer sa revue islamique hebdomadaire, Al Shihab.

    Mais le 8 décembre 1948, sous la pression de puissances étrangères, le mouvement des Frères Musulmans fut déclaré illégal par la loi martiale. Ces puissances étaient fortement inquiétées par l'appel lancé par le mouvement aux gouvernements arabes, à savoir de déclarer le jihad et de défendre la Palestine. Hassan Al Banna fut assassiné par des agents du gouvernement le 12 février 1949.

    En mai 1948, Saïd Ramadan partit avec des frères musulmans volontaires pour défendre la Palestine. Une nuit, il réveilla le roi Abdullah de Jordanie pour lui annoncer que Jérusalem était sur le point d'être occupée par les gangs de la Haganah et de l'Irgun, et lui demanda d'envoyer l'armée jordanienne en renfort pour aider à défendre la ville sainte. Ce que fit Abdullah et Jérusalem resta libre jusqu'en juin 1967, date à laquelle elle fut perdue, pratiquement sans défense. Cette fois-ci, il n'y avait personne pour réveiller le roi Hussein.

    Le roi Abdullah nomma le Dr Saïd Ramadan, chef de la cour militaire de Jérusalem, mais il démissionna après deux mois. Il ne voulait pas être astreint à un tel travail.

    Cette même année 1948, Saïd Ramadan s'en alla pour le Pakistan pour assister au Congrès mondial musulman (Mu'tamar Al'Alam Al Islami) à Karachi. Son nom fut proposé comme secrétaire général du Congrès, mais cela aurait été un choix trop radical et les sages préférèrent élire Inamullah Khan.

    Saïd Ramadan demeura au Pakistan et fit partie du nouveau "milieu islamique" du pays. Il était particulièrement populaire auprès de la jeunesse musulmane et des intellectuels. Le gouvernement pakistanais l'invita à prononcer régulièrement un discours dans le secteur arabe de Radio Pakistan, et le Premier ministre Liaquat Ali Khan (mort en 1951) écrivit la préface d'une de ses brochures.

    Et, mettant la coiffe "Jinah" comme il en avait l'habitude, Saïd Ramadan fit le tour des pays arabes en tant qu'ambassadeur culturel du Pakistan, pays qui avait conquis sa liberté au nom de l'Islam, et qui était considéré comme une excentricité par la nation arabe. C'était un Pakistanais "par excellence".

    Saïd Ramadan retourna en Egypte après que le ban contre les Frères Musulmans ait été levé en 1950. En 1952, il commença à publier Al Muslimoon, une revue mensuelle portant sur la pensée islamique et l'actualité courante. Mais Gamal Abdel Nasser entama en 1954 des mesures de répression contre les Frères Musulmans, et Saïd Ramadan et les têtes dirigeantes du mouvement furent emprisonnés. Cependant, Saïd Ramadan fut relâché après quatre mois de détention suite à l'intervention du Général Naguib, et il se rendit à Al Quds (Jérusalem) accompagné par Sayed Qutb pour représenter le mouvement des Frères à la première réunion du Congrès Mondial Islamique d'Al Quds. Il fut élu secrétaire général du Congrès. Puis, Glubb Pacha le bannit de Jérusalem et le ban demeura jusqu'à son licenciement en 1955. Il s'était entre-temps installé à Damas, où il relança en 1956 Al Muslimoon. Saïd Ramadan n'étant pas syrien, il fut édité par Mustafa Siba'i. Après environ deux ans de va-et-vient entre la Jordanie, la Syrie, le Liban et l'Arabie Saoudite, il arriva à Genève en août 1958. En 1959, il obtint un doctorat en droit de l'Université de Cologne, et en 1961, il commença à publier Al Muslimoon depuis Genève.

    Le journal avait cessé de paraître à Damas après que la Syrie et l'Egypte se soient unies pour former la République Arabe Unie. Al Muslimoon avait déjà eu un grand impact sur le monde intellectuel arabe, mais après son arrivée à Genève, le journal devint un porte-parole non officiel de la tendance islamique post-coloniale. Il était admiré non seulement pour le savoir et l'érudition qu'il véhiculait et pour l'aperçu et l'inspiration qu'il offrait, mais aussi tout autant pour la puissance, la logique, la grâce et l'éclat de sa prose. La dernière revue de Al Muslimoon parut en 1967.

    A Genève, Saïd Ramadan publia aussi la première édition de Islamic Law, Its Scope and Equity (Macmillan, London 1961). C'était "un livre d'une importance considérable pour les musulmans à travers le monde", écrivit l'éminent juriste pakistanais A.K.Brohi (mort en 1987), "particulièrement pour les gens des pays musulmans récemment libérés, qui, s'étant dégagés du joug de la domination coloniale, ont pour but d'établir leur propre ordre légal, au lieu de celui qui leur avait été imposé par leurs maîtres étrangers".

    L'Islam n'était pas encore à ce moment-là l'ennemi, et il y avait un réel besoin de rallier tous les croyants en Dieu pour "relever le challenge du matérialisme athée". Saïd Ramadan établit un Centre islamique à Genève en 1961 avec justement ces mêmes objectifs en vue. Il était "dédié au service de Dieu" et voulait lutter contre le matérialisme athée. Le Conseil du centre était constitué par des sommités éminentes tels que Haïdar Bammate, le professeur Muhammad Hamidullah, Maulana Ahmad Zafar al-Ansari, Maulana Abul Hassan Ali al-Nadawi, ainsi que d'autres personnalités du monde musulman. Le Centre islamique de Genève démarra brillamment et quelques-unes de ses premières publications concernant divers aspects de l'Islam en langues anglaise, française et allemande devinrent une référence reconnue et indispensable au sein des communautés nouvelles et naissantes en Europe et partout ailleurs en Occident.

    En même temps que l'intérêt du Pakistan pour une unification du monde musulman déclinait, mai 62 vit naître la fondation d'un nouvel organe islamique international, Rabita Al 'Alam Al Islami (La Ligue Mondial Islamique), à Macca Al Mukarramah (à la Mecque). Saïd Ramadan aida non seulement à l'élaboration de la constitution de l'organisation, il fut aussi un personnage-clé dans sa formation. La Rabita avait parmi ses membres fondateurs quelques-unes des personnalités les plus crédibles du monde musulman, dont plusieurs du "Mu'tamar" de Karachi, devenu caduc. L'intérêt de l'Arabie Saoudite pour la solidarité islamique était à la fois altruiste et politique; politique, parce que cela l'aidait à faire face à la menace sérieuse constituée alors par le lien du nationalisme nassérien et du socialisme arabe. Les buts politiques commençant à court terme à être obtenus, la tendance altruiste diminua graduellement, spécialement après l'assassinat du roi Fayçal.

    Saïd Ramadan envisagea de créer une chaîne de centres islamiques dans les principales capitales d'Europe. Il en avait ouvert un à Münich, un autre à Londres (en 1964) avec Riad Al Droubie, Ja'far Cheikh Idris et T. Hassan comme membres de son conseil. Il conçut ces centres en tant qu'entités populaires indépendantes de toute interférence et contrôle gouvernementaux. Cela s'avéra irréalisable puisqu'une grande part du financement provenait de la Rabita. Il ne fallut pas longtemps pour que se développe une tension entre lui et l'institution saoudienne. Elle empira après la mort du Premier secrétaire général de la Rabita, le cheikh Suroor Sabban. Les Saoudiens voulaient avoir leur mot à dire dans le fonctionnement du Centre et, afin d'arriver à leur fin, la Rabita n'octroyait plus sa contribution de longs mois durant. Malgré tout, bien que littéralement "brisé" et subissant de grandes privations, Saïd Ramadan ne céda à aucune sorte de pressions. La Rabita arrêta sa contribution en 1971 et toute relation avec l'Arabie Saoudite cessa après qu'un neveu ait liquidé Fayçal de la scène.

    La rupture avec l'Arabie Saoudite n'avait eu qu'une certaine conséquence matérielle sur son travail, qu'il surmonta pratiquement totalement. (...) Mais, il lui fut reproché d'avoir organisé le congrès mondial islamique à Al Quds, d'avoir essayé de détériorer les relations entre la Syrie et l'Egypte, et il fut inculpé de haute trahison. Il fut condamné par contumace à trois peines de prison de 25 années chacune. Le régime nassérien essaya aussi de le kidnapper à Genève et de le rapatrier en Egypte.

    Saïd Ramadan maintint que son travail politique avait le plein accord du leader des Frères Musulmans, mais celui-ci était en prison. La mise à l'épreuve des Frères s'est avérée non seulement singulière, mais aussi démesurément longue, et, au moment où les choses commencèrent à s'améliorer, deux précieuses décennies avaient été perdues. Al Muslimoon cessa de paraître en 1967. Il essaya de le relancer au début des années 1980, mais il était maintenant handicapé par une santé physique défaillante et un manque de ressources pour relancer le journal.

    Beaucoup d'intellectuels musulmans pensent qu'un magazine ou journal islamique n'est principalement qu'un outil de publication ou qu'un moyen d'attirer l'attention du public sur leurs discours ou leurs écrits. Mais Saïd Ramadan était extrêmement vigilant quant au rôle et à l'importance d'une presse d'information islamique indépendante et crédible, sans laquelle la stratégie islamique était soit vouée aux ténèbres, soit dirigée selon le désir des autres médias.

    Il avait été profondément contrarié quand la revue Impact avait dû suspendre sa parution en Octobre 1990. Il appela des dizaines de ses amis musulmans à travers le monde et essaya de les culpabiliser pour ce qu'il considérait être un acte de négligence criminelle de leur part et les pressa d'aider à remettre en marche le magazine. Il nous appelait pour savoir si la personne à laquelle il avait parlé environ une semaine auparavant, avait depuis lors envoyé un quelconque don et, si la réponse était négative, il s'en retournait la sermonner. Mais il ne se contentait pas de demander aux autres de faire des dons, il envoyait lui-même une contribution personnelle quand il le pouvait, et selon ce qu'il avait, je crois, pu mettre de côté. C'étaient de petites sommes, mais pleines de barakah. L'arrêt d'Impact était tout simplement inacceptable pour lui. Il appelait à quelques semaines d'intervalle, quand il recevait le nouveau numéro d'Impact ou quand il éprouvait le besoin de partager ses pensées sur n'importe quel sujet d'actualité. Il était toujours instructif de l'écouter ou d'argumenter avec lui.

    Saïd Ramadan n'était pas seulement un homme doué d'un savoir prodigieux, d'une connaissance du Coran et des Hadiths, c'était aussi un homme d'une énorme "spiritualité". Les termes qu'il soulignait souvent étaient rabbaniyya et rouhaniyya. Il considérait les crises contemporaines de la société musulmane comme une "crise morale". "Si quelqu'un venait à moi et voulait discuter de la manière par laquelle on pourrait amener un changement dans le monde musulman, je lui demanderais d'abord s'il a prié le fajr", disait-il à ses enfants.

    Il accomplit son dernier voyage vers son pays natal avec un passeport diplomatique pakistanais. Il fut autant un ardent "Pakistanais", qu'un Egyptien loyal. Il n'avait jamais accepté le retrait de sa nationalité égyptienne par Nasser. Bien des années plus tard, les autorités égyptiennes lui conseillèrent de faire une demande pour la restitution de sa nationalité, mais il refusa parce qu'il considérait n'avoir jamais cessé d'être égyptien. Il n'adopta pas non plus la nationalité suisse et il resta attaché à son passeport égyptien depuis longtemps déjà périmé. Saïd Ramadan avait souhaité être enterré à Al Madinah Al Munawwarah et à défaut auprès de Hassan Al Banna à l'Imam Shafi'i au Caire. Les Saoudiens ayant refusé l'autorisation, son corps fut enterré à l'Imam Shafi'i, le 9 août. Sa mort a été pleurée par les leaders musulmans du monde entier. Des messages de condoléances furent envoyés par le Président Mubarak, le Président Arafat et le Roi Hussein.

    Lui survivent une épouse dévouée, Wafa, fille de l'Imam Hassan Al Banna; cinq garçons, Aymen, Bilal, Yasser, Hani, Tariq; une fille, Arwa; et douze petits-enfants.


    This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1927