A leading Muslim theologian who condemned the Sept. 11 attacks and the Bali bombing but condones some suicide bombings will have his speeches monitored while in Britain, Home Secretary David Blunkett said on Wednesday.
Blunkett, under mounting pressure to expel outspoken Egyptian-born cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, said his comments while on a speaking tour of Britain would be scrutinized for any indications of preaching race hate or intolerance.
"We will certainly monitor what he has got to say and what he has got to do," Blunkett told BBC radio on the same day he said he planned to legislate to stop attacks on the Muslim religion in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Newspapers and parliamentarians from all parties have urged the government to deport Qaradawi, who arrived in Britain on Monday. They accuse him of supporting terrorism.
Arguing his case on suicide bombings on BBC television, Qaradawi said on Wednesday the act was justified in certain circumstances.
"It is allowed to jeopardize your soul and cross the path of the enemy and be killed, if this act of jeopardy affects the enemy, even if it only generates fear in their hearts, shaking their morale, making them fear Muslims," he said. "If it does not affect the enemy then it is not allowed."
"Allah is just. Through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak what the strong do not possess, and that is the ability to turn their bodies into bombs, like the Palestinians do."
Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Qatar-based Qaradawi would not be allowed to overstep the line, but that any case to expel the man, who has been barred from the United States since 1999, would have to be watertight.
"We will keep it under very strict review. There are rules that have to be applied and those rules will be applied to this particular individual," he told parliament.
Qaradawi is revered in much of the Muslim world for his intellectual rigor and ability to adapt the fundamental tenets of Islam to the modern world.
A prominent poet, writer and public speaker, Qaradawi has a reputation for spurning extremists which is seen by some to be at odds with his known support for Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel and statements deemed to be homophobic.
After Sept. 11 he urged all Muslims worldwide to donate blood to help the victims and also condemned the 2002 Bali bombing as barbaric and immoral.
The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organization representing some 400 different organizations, condemned media attacks on Qaradawi, describing him as "a voice of reason and understanding."