The mean FBI are picking on the poor terrorists....
Agents, Muslims clash over probe
Contra Costa Times ^ | 6/10/5 | John Simerman and Jessica Guynn
contracostatimes.com
LODI - Federal agents continue to fan across this small rural city suddenly thrust in the spotlight of a high-profile terrorism probe, drawing sharp rebuke from some leaders of the Muslim community who say the FBI is spreading fear with aggressive tactics.
Lodi Mayor John Beckman and other city officials met with representatives of the Lodi Muslim Mosque on Thursday, seeking to ease mounting tensions.
"Today, the challenge of balancing freedom and security has been brought to us on a national level," he said.
A Lodi father and son were charged this week with lying to the FBI about the son's alleged al-Qaida training in Pakistan, and three other Lodi men were detained on immigration violations.
The investigation that netted the arrests and detentions extends to the Bay Area, authorities said. Agents from the FBI's San Francisco office began investigating leads from the Lodi case long before the arrests, said FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy.
"There is information that the FBI in San Francisco is looking at in evaluating whether or not there is a link," said Quy, who declined to elaborate. "At this point the investigation is continuing. We're following leads."
William Youmans, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, objected to how the FBI is following leads in Lodi. He said agents have agitated the community by questioning high-profile members and others at random. He also said some Muslims were forced to take polygraph tests.
"The FBI is vigorously combing the Lodi community," Youmans said. "The concern is that they might be doing it in such a way that it is causing more fear in that community than is needed."
Basim Elkarra, executive director of the council's Sacramento Valley chapter, said the FBI has harassed many people over the past few days in this community of more than 2,000 Muslims.
John Cauthen, spokesman for the FBI's Sacramento office, acknowledged that the FBI and other agencies have been highly visible this week in Lodi, serving search warrants and questioning people. He said he was unaware of any agents forcing people to take lie detector tests and said FBI leaders gave agents special instruction on cultural sensitivity.
"This was an extra measure taken in this case and this investigation," he said. "It was above and beyond what is normally done."
Youmans said Muslims are being asked what they know about Hamid Hayat, 22, and his father, Umer Hayat, 47. The two man remained jailed Thursday on charges they lied to federal agents about Hamid Hayat's alleged participation in an al-Qaida-supported training camp in Pakistan.
An FBI affidavit claims Hamid Hayat first denied any links to terrorist training camps, then later told agents of being trained in "how to kill Americans" at the camp in 2003 and 2004. He also allegedly told agents he had "requested to come to the United States to carry out his Jihadi mission."
Authorities said they could not pinpoint any specific terrorist plot or target.
Two recognized religious figures in the Lodi Muslim community, Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammed Adil Khan, were also detained early this week on immigration violations.
"That leaves everyone thinking if two well-respected people can be detained, anybody can be detained," said Youmans. "The whole community feels under assault."
Agents also detained Khan's son, 19-year-old Mohammed Hassan Adil, on a similar violation Wednesday. Officials with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would not say where the three men, all Pakistani citizens, were being held. But at least one was in Santa Clara, said a legal source.
Authorities hinted that more arrests may come and possibly more charges against Hamid Hayat or his father. A federal judge denied the father bail Tuesday. His son makes his first court appearance today.
Hamid Hayat's lawyer said she could not comment on the specifics of the "quite shocking allegations" in the affidavit, saying they do not relate to the charge of lying to agents. She described her client as "devastated" by the allegations.
"He's a gentle, warm person," said Wazhma Mojaddidi.
Hamid Hayat was plucked from a federal "no-fly" list on his return trip through Korea on May 29, more than two years after, according to immigration records, he left for Islamabad, the affidavit states.
After denying terrorist ties in an FBI interview, he was allowed to complete his trip, and he began work last week at a cherry-packing plant before FBI agents questioned him further and then arrested him.
His father, an ice cream vendor, faces the same charge, after first denying he knew of any training camps in Pakistan, then admitting he gave his son plane fare to Pakistan and a $100-a-month allowance, knowing he was attending the camp, the affidavit states. The father also said he visited several camps.
Cauthen declined to say how many agents were at work in Lodi or how long they planned to be there. The focus of the investigation remains in California, he said, but the FBI is pursuing all leads, including some outside the state.
"What I am trying to say is we are going to be following leads everywhere, and that would include outside California." |
