Red Ken does it again....

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, hasn't met an Imam he doesn't like.

An Islamic scholar who has been accused of supporting suicide bombers was likened by Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, yesterday to Pope John XXIII.

He said that Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based imam who is banned from America, was "an absolutely sane Islamist engaged with the world" who believed in democracy and an increasing role for women.

"Of all the Muslim leaders in the world today, Sheikh Qaradawi is the most powerfully progressive force for change and for engaging Islam with western values," Mr Livingstone told the Commons home affairs select committee.

"I think his is very similar to the position of Pope John XXIII."

The pontiff, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, was one of the great reforming popes and was credited with advancing co-operation with other religions. He met Protestant leaders, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Shinto high priest.

Mr Livingstone said his view of al-Qaradawi was no different from an assessment offered by the Foreign Office when the Government was considering whether he should be prevented from attending a rally in Manchester held shortly after the July 7 bombs.

In the event, the imam did not travel to Britain, though his visit to London last year at Mr Livingstone's invitation triggered protests from gay rights groups and Jewish leaders.

Mr Livingstone said that many of the comments attributed to the imam were "from translated sources hostile to him." He was also not responsible for everything on the website that operates under his name

And, here's an excerpt from the Daily Telegraph profile of Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Best known for: television appearances on al-Jazeera and his involvement in the Qatar-based website IslamOnline. Banned from a number of countries, including the US.

Has criticised the London bombings but justified suicide bombing in the Middle East and even the killing of Israeli women and children. Critics claim he also endorses the "light" beating of disobedient wives by their husbands and the execution of male homosexuals and apostates.

Sayings: "Israeli women are not like women in our society because Israeli women are militarised. Secondly, I consider this type of martyrdom operation as an indication of the justice of Allah Almighty. "

"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. Islamic theologians and jurisprudents have debated this issue, referring to it as a form of jihad under the title of 'jeopardising the life of the mujaheed' (fighter)."

"It is allowed to jeopardise 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. If it does not affect the enemy then it is not allowed." (Interview with BBC 2's Newsnight, July 7, 2004.)