Government officials will spend thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to attend a lecture by an Islamic extremist whom Jacqui Smith is under pressure to ban from Britain.
Yesterday, the Mail revealed how the Home Secretary was facing demands to deny a visa to Ibrahim Moussawi - a spokesman for the Lebanese terrorist organisation Hezbollah - to come to speak at a British university.
Now it has emerged that the lectures Moussawi plans to deliver are targeted at Whitehall officials who deal in foreign affairs and extremism.
They will each spend up to £1,890 of taxpayers' cash attending the Political Islam event at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) next month.
Moussawi - who is among the key speakers at the week-long course - is scheduled to address two sessions on March 25 and is expected to be paid for the talks.
Another speaker at the event is the UK-based extremist Dr Kamal Helbawy, a former spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood - a group said to have inspired Al Qaeda.
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Last night, Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, a researcher for the Centre for Social Cohesion, a respected think-tank, said: 'In their willingness to pay extremists like Dr Helbawy and Dr el-Moussawi, SOAS are helping these men present themselves as mainstream figures.
'It is particularly worrying that the target audience includes Government officials and the police, who may find themselves paying for advice on tackling terrorism from its very exponents.'
The CSC said it was now imperative Miss Smith ban Moussawi, who has allegedly called Jews 'a lesion on the forehead of history'.
Home Office insiders say they have yet to receive a visa request from Moussawi, but that it would be studied closely if submitted.
A spokesman for the School of Oriental and African Studies said: 'The programme has a wide range of speakers with diverse specialisms. The rationale behind the invitation to Dr Moussawi is to help Government officials and other senior leaders understand more clearly what makes Hezbollah tick.'
Yesterday's controversy came as ministers were criticised for backsliding on two promises on terrorism: one to ban the extremist Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the other to close down extremist websites.
The pledge to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir - which refuses to condemn suicide bombers and has called for the destruction of Israel - was given by Tony Blair when he was prime minister in response to the London bombings of July 7, 2005.
However, yesterday Communities Secretary Hazel Blears appeared to clear Hizb ut-Tahrir of advocating terrorism and even seemed to open the door to Government officials holding talks with the group.
Meanwhile, the Home Office admitted that not a single website had been closed down under terrorism laws, despite a pledge by Jacqui Smith that material that illegally 'glorifies terrorism' would be removed.
Tory MP Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons sub- committee on counter-terrorism and a security adviser to the Prime Minister, received the admission in a Parliamentary answer.
He said: 'This drives a coach and horses through the Government's counter-terrorism strategy. No websites have been closed, and ministers are back-pedalling on Hizb ut-Tahrir. It is just nonsensical. The Government must have a clear strategy and stick to it.'
The Home Office said material had been taken down using an informal route, with requests made direct to internet service providers.
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