Jamaican-Canadian convert to Islam banned from Australia, but apparently still welcome in Canada

This story is almost two months old but I only came across it yesterday. According to the Herald Sun newspaper in Australia, the US government named the man in the story an 'unindicted co-conspirator' in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

From the National Post (Australia bars Canadian Muslim preacher by Stewart Bell, April 5, 2007):

The Australian government has barred a hardline Canadian Muslim preacher from entering the country, citing national security concerns.

Sheikh Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, who was Dennis Philips before his conversion, was to speak at an Islamic conference in Melbourne this weekend.

But Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told Australian news media yesterday that the Jamaican-born Canadian raised in Toronto would not be getting a visa.

[. . .]

Mr. Philips lives in the Persian Gulf and is a frequent public speaker in Canada. His writings are available at many bookstores and public libraries but some consider him a radical.

[Hyphenated_Canadian: A quick author search turns up one book by Philips in the Toronto Public Library system. It's a translation of a book by someone else. I found three books by the man at Chapters Indigo.]

On his Web site, he supports beheading, calls polygamy a "male right," says homosexuality is "evil" and writes that "if women, children or the elderly bear arms they may be killed in self-defence."

[Hyphenated_Canadian: Does he consider Israeli civilians fair game, because they are eligible for service in the military?]

He also cites Muslim scripture to justify "physical jihad," which he describes as taking up arms to defend Islam and the Muslim community from its enemies.

The Herald Sun newspaper in Australia reported the U.S. government had named him as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the 1993 truck bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.

[. . .]

Read all of Stewart Bell's article

Stewart Bell is the author of two important books about terrorism in Canada: Cold Terror and The Martyr's Oath. Patrick Grady reviews them here and here. See also Grady's article The Judiciary and Politicians put Canadian National Security At Risk .

Daniel Pipes has written about converts to Islam who support terrorism. See, for example, these articles: Converts to Terrorism and More Converts to Terrorism.

See also:

Toronto terror bomb plot case inches its way through the court system

Momin Khawaja - Canadian Muslim linked to terror cell responsible for 2005 London transit bombings

Does Muslim alienation start in high school?