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

March 2010 – the Australian TV media reports on the Save the Sheikh campaign.

ABC Lateline breaks the story March 8, follow by both Seven and Ten News on March 9.

Channel 7, March 11th, 2010

Channel 10, March 11th, 2010

ABC Lateline, March 8, 2010 (the transcript)

Other major media pick up the story:

The Australian, March 10, 2010: “Sheik in last-ditch bid to stay here“

ABC News, March 9, 2010: “Peace-making sheikh on verge of deportation“

The Australian, March 14, 2010: “Muslim Cleric hard to replace”