c. 1996 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)

(RNS)-During last October’s Million Man March in Washington, I heard several black Christian ministers suggest that Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan had”reformed”and become a”serious leader of Black America.” Any hope for Farrakhan to remake himself into a credible leader was shattered by his recent 27-nation journey through Africa and the Middle East.

During his 45-day tour, Farrakhan managed to embrace many of the world’s despots, including leaders of Libya, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria and Sudan. Farrakhan gave aid and comfort to dictators who have built their careers on human rights abuses and support for deadly terrorism.

Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi reportedly promised Farrakhan $1 billion to establish a political organization in the United States composed of”blacks, Arabs, Muslims, and red Indians.”They are to create their own state in America”led by the Nation of Islam”and backed by”a half-million blacks in the U.S. Army, enabling them to set up the biggest black army on the planet.” Maybe Gadhafi’s check is in the mail to Farrakhan’s Chicago headquarters. Somehow I doubt it.

Libya is under international sanctions because of its refusal to extradite two of its intelligence agents who are directly implicated in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan American Airlines Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

In Khartoum, Farrakhan boasted that”more than 40 million American Muslims stand with Sudan against the unjust plots that it is subjected to.”One of those”unjust plots”is a demand by the United Nations Security Council to turn over the three Sudanese who are prime suspects in the recent attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

And the Khartoum government has been systematically carrying out a brutal campaign of mass murder directed against hundreds of thousands of black Christians who live in southern Sudan. And, hey, where does Farrakhan get his 40 million figure? If true, it would mean that one of six Americans is a Muslim.

In Iran, the Nation of Islam leader adopted the verbal coin of the realm used by his ayatollah hosts, offering his help in overthrowing the”Great Satan,”the United States.

In Baghdad, Farrakhan obediently called for an end to sanctions against Iraq without noting that the sanctions are in place because the Iraqi warlord, Saddam Hussein, will not destroy his arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. Of course, Farrakhan was careful to avoid any mention of Hussein’s ruthless destruction of the Kurdish minority in Iraq.

But Farrakhan’s most blatant and obsequious capitulation to tyrants took place in Nigeria, where he publicly urged that the Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha, be given three more years of totalitarian rule before returning that African nation to civilian control.

Abacha is a world-class tyrant who has been sharply condemned by other African leaders. Nigeria is where hundreds of political prisoners are being held without trial and where opposition leader Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed.

A State Department spokesman called Farrakhan’s behavior”shameful … and inexcusable.”Columnist Carl Rowan labeled Farrakhan a”curse,”warning that”his constant grubbing for money … makes it easier for bigots and racists to play the race card and gain broader political power.” Two members of the House of Representatives, Peter King of New York and Tom Lantos of California, want the Justice Department to investigate whether Farrakhan violated federal laws in failing to register as an agent of Libya.

But these attacks, even when they come from the black community, are probably just what Farrakhan desires. In the absence of real leadership, he offers his followers anti-American rhetoric and verbal support for Arab and African dictators.

But even farce has its tragic side. Farrakhan has dissipated whatever goodwill he may have gained with last fall’s Washington march. His promised effort to achieve quality education, affordable housing and good jobs for the black community remains a mirage.

MJP END RUDIN