Islamic Preacher Bilal No Threat To Ghana – Nat. Security

Ghana’s national security has allayed fears of Ghanaians about the presence of a controversial Islamic Scholar Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, who has been banned in the US.

Philips has also been barred by other countries including the UK and Kenya. He is alleged to have ties with extremist groups around the world and operating under the guise of Islamic teachings.

The National Security Coordinator, Yaw Donkor, said there is no need to worry as far as the activities of Philips in Ghana are concerned.

"There is no cause for alarm," Donkor told Graphic Online.

“If the one who sponsored him comes to ask us ‘why are you refusing him Visa’, what are we going to tell him? Are we going to tell him that because Czechoslovakia deported him, we don’t want him to come to Ghana or because Germany says that the man has written a book that is talking about anti-Semitism, we don’t want him to come [to Ghana]. How can you use that reason to refuse a visa to a sovereign country?” he said.

Donkor assured the national security has its eyes on the scholar.

“So, as far as I’m concerned, since he entered this country, he hasn’t said anything that requires me to take any action against him.

“We should be careful. He is not here on his own. Thirty per cent of this country are listening to him or they think he came because of them. If you have no reason to throw him out, you are going to create a problem by your own action. So we should watch it that way,” he said.

Dr Philip’s books and teachings have been controversial, with countries like the UK accusing him of “condoning suicide bombings” and “rape”.

Background
Dr Philips was named by the US government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. In 2007, he was banned from entering Australia on the advice of national security agencies.

In 2010 he was banned from entering the UK by home secretary Theresa May for holding "extremist views".

In April 2011, Dr Philips was banned from re-entering Germany as persona non grata. In 2012, he was banned from entering Kenya over possible terror links.