Friday, February 25 2005 10:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Accusing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of "complicity" in post-Godhra riots in the State, a Washington-based leading Muslim group has asked the Bush administration to bar his entry to the US, which he visits next month.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading organisation including Muslims of Indian and Pakistani origin, said it is seeking to block Modi's entry based on the International Religious Freedom Act that makes any foreign official, who has engaged in "particularly severe violations of religious freedom," inadmissible to the US.

CAIR, the largest Muslim civil liberties group in America, in a statement charged Modi with "complicity in the massacre of 1,000 Muslim civilians".

Modi is to be the chief guest of an affluent Indian American association the Asian American Hotel Owners' Association (AAHOA) whose members are mostly from Gujarat, at its annual convention next month in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

CAIR, in a letter to Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom in the State Department, John Hanford, said, "Our nation should not reward a man accused of complicity in the massacre of civilians by granting him a visa at a place of honour at a convention," said CAIR Board Member Parvez Ahmed.

Those opposed to Modi's entry into the US, CAIR said, "Have formed a group, the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) to press for action by the AAHOA and by US Government officials."

On the Modi issue, CAIR has the support of at least one led by an Indian American Christian as well as other organizations opposed to "Hindutva" philosophy.