Atwan allowed to enter Australia

The Age - September 14, 2007
Controversial author Dr Abdel Bari Atwan will fly into Australia on Saturday after immigration authorities approved his visa.

Authorities notified Brisbane Writers Festival organisers on Thursday evening that Dr Atwan's visa had been granted, in the wake of concerns raised about a deliberate delay.

Festival director Michael Campbell said he was in the process of cancelling the Palestinian author's appearances this weekend when he received the news.

"We thought, given the stage it was at, there was no hope, and we started to organise other plans," he told AAP.

Mr Campbell said the festival attracted numerous international writers, but most had to wait only a matter of days before being granted a visa.

He believed the delays in approving Dr Atwan's entry into Australia were politically motivated and that controversy surrounding the visa application this week may have forced the immigration department's hand.

"It's very hard to know the reason why the delays occurred because without any hard evidence, we can only assume," he said.

Dr Atwan is the editor-in-chief of London based newspaper Al-Quds Al Arabi and has been vocal in his opposition to the Iraq war.

He is also the last Western author to interview terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden and is the author of The Secret History of al-Qaeda.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said the writer's visa had gone through standard processing.

"It is false to suggest it's anything to do with the media campaign or conspiracy theories," she said.

"We had to seek some additional information.

"Dr Atwan's application was treated like everybody else's."

Dr Atwan could not be contacted but is expected to arrive in Australia on Friday morning.

He will address a crowd at the Queensland State Library from 3.20pm (AEST) on Saturday, followed by an hour-long session on his book from 11.20am on Sunday.

Mr Campbell said organisers were also negotiating to bring together the author and two other high-profile guests, Julian Morrow and Dominic Knight from ABC TV's The Chaser team, in a Sunday night session.

Critics, including Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, have accused the government of delaying processing Dr Atwan's visa to prevent him from attending the festival, which is now in its last days.

Mr Andrews' spokeswoman said claims Dr Atwan had to wait six weeks for his visa were untrue.

She said the wait was less than four weeks.

"That is not an unusual amount of time," she said.

© 2007 AAP