Ban on visit by Farrakhan upheld by Court of Appeal

A black Muslim known for his racist remarks lost his legal fight to visit Britain yesterday when the Court of Appeal decided that the events of 11 September supported the Home Secretary's claim that he would pose a threat to public order.

Since 1986, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the black separatist movement the Nation of Islam, has been attempting to enter Britain to address followers who have set up a UK branch of the faith. Mr Farrakhan's description of whites as "devils" and Judaism as a "gutter religion" has helped to persuade successive Home Secretaries to refuse him entry.

But last year Mr Justice Turner ruled that Jack Straw, when he was Home Secretary, had failed to justify his decision for excluding him in 2000.

Yesterday three Court of Appeal judges overturned the High Court judge, concluding that the Home Secretary had used his discretion properly.

The Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, said that since Mr Justice Turner's ruling "the events of 11 September had intervened". He said the Home Secretary had maintained he was balancing the importance of freedom of speech against the risk of disorder. It was a personal decision of the Home Secretary which was within his "wide margin of discretion" and he was in a far better position to reach an informed conclusion than a court.

After the hearing, Hilary Muhammed, Mr Farrakhan's representative in the UK, suggested they would appeal to the House of Lords. "We will continue to fight this injustice because we believe faith and justice is on our side."

Mr Muhammed said Mr Farrakhan's visit was needed. "He reformed my life. I stopped drugs, stopped drinking, stopped being abusive to my own community and others. If he can do that by videotape, I believe he can solve the problems of our community. As spiritual people we need a spiritual teacher."

Mr Farrakhan, 67, was a calypso singer called The Charmer when Malcolm X recruited him into the Nation of Islam in 1956. The movement mixes Christian and Islamic theology with mythological influences.