was revealed yesterday.

Once banned-from-Bermuda Minister Farrakhan will speak at a meeting organised by Bermuda followers of the Nation of Islam on February 18 at the end of a marathon worldwide tour.

Minister Farrakhan -- whose mother was born in Bermuda -- was banned from the Island in 1985 just days before he was due to make a speech.

The exclusion order was based on US media reports that he made anti-Semitic remarks for which he was slammed by black and white leaders in America.

He was also attacked for saluting Hitler as "a great man'' and describing Judaism as "a gutter religion.'' But the ban was lifted in 1991 -- and was welcomed by followers and then-Opposition leader Frederick Wade as a triumph for free speech.

Minister Farrakhan also organised the One Million Man March in Washington DC two years ago, which a Bermudian contingent attended.

Last night Nation of Islam student minister Byron Muhammad defended Minister Farrakhan and said controversial statements had been "taken out of context to a degree.'' He added: "If people take him in the right spirit and judge him on what he has to say, Bermuda will benefit greatly from it.

"If you look at the condition the Island is starting to head in, not going in a positive direction with violence in the schools and in the community among our youth, he can speak to the youth and to Bermuda as a whole -- not just the black people, but the community in general.'' CONFERENCE CON