US: The White House told lawmakers yesterday it would appoint a Harvard-trained academic, described by some as anti-Muslim, to a federally funded think-tank, a key senator's spokesman has said.
A spokesman for Massachusetts Democrat Sen Edward Kennedy said the White House told his office that Middle East scholar Mr Daniel Pipes would be appointed to the board of the US Institute of Peace during the August congressional recess.
Sen Kennedy is the leading Democrat on the Senate Health, Education and Labour Committee, which has jurisdiction over the appointment.
The move could spark a backlash from some Muslim-Americans and Democrats in Congress who object to Mr Pipes's statements defending racial and religious profiling and his suggestions that mosques in America should be targets of police surveillance. His position with the institute, created by Congress to promote peaceful solutions to world conflicts, will be largely honorary.
His nomination was stalled for months in the Senate, prompting President Bush to make the recess appointment.
Mr Pipes sparked criticism when he launched an organisation that collects complaints against professors and academic institutions deemed to be biased in favour of Islam, Muslims and Palestinians.
But supporters say he is a respected scholar who was one of the few to warn of the threat posed by Islamic extremists before the September 11th, 2001 attacks.