WASHINGTON: The Obama administration drew fire Tuesday from conservative lawmakers for sending to the Middle East the imam who backs controversial plans for a mosque next to the site of the September 11 attacks in New York.
"Imam Feisal (Abdul Rauf) will be traveling to Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) on a US government-sponsored trip to the Middle East," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
"He will discuss Muslim life in America and religious tolerance," Crowley added.
Imam Feisal is behind plans for an Islamic center that includes a mosque, sports facilities, theater and restaurant that would be open to all visitors to demonstrate that Muslims are part of their New York community, planners say.
But the proposed location, two blocks from the gaping Ground Zero hole, where the Twin Towers were destroyed by Al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people, has touched raw nerves.
And the imam’s trip under the auspices of the State Department is being criticized by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee.
"It is unacceptable that US taxpayers are being forced to fund Feisal Abdul Rauf’s trip to the Middle East," the pair said in a joint statement.
"Abdul Rauf has cast blame for 9/11 on the US, and even refuses to call Hamas what it is — a foreign terrorist organization," they said.
"This radical is a terrible choice to be one of the faces of our country overseas. The US should be using public diplomacy programs to combat extremism, not endorse it," they said.
"The State Department’s selection of Feisal Abdul Rauf to represent the American people through this program further calls into question the administration’s policy and funding priorities," they added.
When Crowley announced the trip at the daily State Department briefing, he described Imam Feisal as a moderate who has already made two similar government-sponsored trips to Arab and Muslim countries.
In 2007, he visited Bahrain, Morocco, the UAE and Qatar, while in January this year, he visited Egypt.
"So we have a long-term relationship with him. His work on tolerance and religious diversity is well-known and he brings a moderate perspective to foreign audiences on what it’s like to be a practicing Muslim in the United States," Crowley said.
"And our discussions with him about taking this trip preceded the current debate in New York over the (Islamic) center," Crowley said.
