... and gave him rather glowing praise while they did it. In the news release from the MCB linked there their own secretary-general said "Yusuf Al Qaradawi enjoys unparalleled respect and influence throughout the Muslim world" and criticized the gov't for being 'pro-Zionist', I'm not really sure how someone can put their name and their whole organization behind defending the guy and not expect to be viewed as two-faced. Had they just said 'He is an influential if controversial speaker convicted of no crime, free speech protects even that which we disagree' it might be different, but you can't give a guy props that way when he's said those things and not have legitimate doubts raised as to just how non-violent and moderate you are. This is their own news release, a crafted document, and nowhere in there was their even a gesture towards criticism like 'although the MCB disagrees with many...' and the thing is still up on their site! They didn't come back afterwards and say 'uh, maybe this needs toned down or qualified or something'.