This is a post I had hoped to avoid making.  There will be a farewell for Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, his wife Marziah, and his daugther Fatima, on Saturday June 26 at 8pm.

The gathering will take place at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre (6 Lang Road, Earlwood). It will not include dinner as the team felt that numbers would be impossible to estimate and probably impossible to cater for.

Everyone is invited. It will be a painful time in so many ways, and yet we intend to close this chapter of our campaign with dignity and thankfulness, believing that the battle for Mansour’s fundamental human rights can yet be won, and that our relationship with him is by no means over, even if, for a time, he will not be with us in person.

Having submitted his formal appeal to the Minister for Immigration, Sheikh Mansour Leghaei has broken his silence and spoken openly to Lateline about his concern for his family and his ongoing hope for justice.

Sheikh Mansour’s story has been widely publicised in all the major Sydney papers this week and is gaining international attention.  Amongst other media pieces published this week:

• Sydney Morning Herald: “One last chance for cleric in ASIO’s sights“
• The Canterbury Torch and Valley Times publish “Forced Out“.
• The Australian publishes “Sheik Leghaei wins another month’s visa“
• The Leader publishes “Sheikh fights deportation after ASIO concerns“
• Sheikh Mansour and Ali are interviewed on JJJ Hack Radio
• Father Dave speaks on his relationship with Sheikh on ABC’s The Drum.

And the good news is that Sheikh Mansour has now been given an extension on his visa until the Minister for Immigration has considered his appeal.  The extension currently takes him through to the middle of April 2010