US Nation of Islam's Farrakhan steps aside due to illness

[stu]

CHICAGO (AFP) - The controversial leader of the US Nation of Islam has stepped aside due to illness, according to a letter Louis Farrakhan wrote to his members.

 

Farrakhan, who leads the religious group which rose to national prominence under Malcolm X during the civil rights movement, said he is suffering from a painful infection that has plagued him since March.

 

The letter, dated September 11, was published in this week's edition of the Final Call newspaper, which Farrakhan founded.

 

Farrakhan, 73, said he will be available to offer guidance should any major problems arise but has asked the executive board to deal with the day-to-day operations and issues of the group.

 

"In this period of testing, you can prove to the world that the Nation of Islam is more than the charisma, eloquence and personality of Louis Farrakhan," he said in the letter.

 

Farrakhan, who visited Cuba in March, likened his illness to that of Fidel Castro and said that just as Cuba did not fall apart without its leader, neither will the Nation of Islam.

 

Farrakhan is one of the United States' most influential black leaders, although he is rarely far from controversy. He has frequently been accused of being anti-Semitic and also made headlines with his accusations that the government deliberately destroyed levees in New Orleans in an attempt to wipe out the city's black population.