WASHINGTON - The largest US Muslim civil liberties group on Friday applauded Washington's decision to deny an entry visa to hardline Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi, who is accused of complicity in a massacre of Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it had lobbied the administration of President George W. Bush and the US Congress to deny entry to Modi.
The controversial Modi, chief minister of India's western Gujarat state, was to visit Florida next week at the invitation of a Gujarati-dominated hotel owners' association.
Modi has been accused by opposition and human rights groups of doing little to stop riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which up to 2,000 Muslims were killed.
The rioting was triggered after a mob, believed to be Muslim, allegedly torched a train carrying Hindu activists at Godhra town, killing 59 people on February 27, 2002. However, a subsequent official report said the train fire was caused by a cooking accident or cigarettes and not Muslims.
"This case demonstrates what can be accomplished when Muslim, human rights and minority groups work together for a common purpose," CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
India's government has criticised the US decision and pledged to take up Modi's case with US officials in India.
03/18/2005 17:09 GMT