US judge slams foot-dragging on scholar visa
Sunday, June 25, 2006 
A US federal judge issued on Friday, June 23, a three-month deadline for the Bush administration to rule on a visa application by prominent Muslim intellectual and scholar Tariq Ramadan. "The government has failed to adjudicate Ramadan's pending B-visa application within a reasonable period of time," Judge Paul Crotty, Reuters reported.
Ramadan, one of Europe's best known Muslim intellectuals, has been barred from entering the US since 2004 after his visa was revoked by authorities. He applied for a non-immigrant visa in September last year, but US officials have stalled on deciding his request, citing national security concerns. Judge Crotty said the US government explanations on delaying a decision on the visa application was "less than convincing".
"If the government has a legitimate and bona fide reason for excluding Ramadan, then it may exclude him," he said. "But it must do so by acting on the pending visa application, not by studying Ramadan's application indefinitely."
See also ABC News, 23 June 2006 and ACLU press release, 23 June 2006