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| ACLU, CAIR decry anti-terror efforts |
| Wednesday, April 20, 2005 |
Islamic group slams feds for detaining Muslims returning from Canada
The American Civil Liberties Union and Council on American-Islamic Relations are teaming up today to decry what they see as a federal screening process that discriminates against Muslim Americans.
The two groups, along with the New York Civil Liberties Union, plan simultaneous news conferences today "to announce action against the Department of Homeland Security over the practice of targeting American citizens participating in religious conferences outside the United States," said a statement.
According to the release, in December, dozens of American Muslim citizens were detained, interrogated, fingerprinted and photographed at the Buffalo-Canadian border as they returned home from an annual Islamic conference in Toronto.
CAIR members have been linked with terror and the funding of terrorism on several occasions. As WorldNetDaily reported, a founder of the Texas chapter of the group was found guilty last week of supporting terrorism.
Ghassan Elashi, along with two brothers, was convicted in Dallas of channeling funds to a high-ranking official of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook.
Elashi was the third CAIR figure to be convicted on federal terrorism charges since 9-11.
Ghassan Elashi, Bayan Elashi and their company were found guilty of all 21 federal counts: conspiracy, money laundering and dealing in property of a terrorist.
Other CAIR figures convicted since 9-11 are Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, a former communications specialist and civil rights coordinator, and Bassem Khafagi, former director of community relations.
Royer was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the United States and sent several members to Pakistan to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida.
In a plea bargain, Royer claimed he never intended to hurt anyone but admitted he organized the holy warriors after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.
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posted by J.R. @ 10:04:00 AM   |
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