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I must confess I was not impressed by Sen. Barack Obama from the first time I saw him. At first I was excited to see a black candidate. He looked youthful, spoke well, appeared to be confident – a wholesome presidential package. It is so instinctive for most people to want to see blacks succeed. It is as if all humanity is carrying a collective guilt for what the ancestors of blacks endured. However, despite my initial interest in him, I was put off soon, not just because of his shallowness but also because there was an air of haughtiness...

Nearly 300 people turned out Monday night to hear a controversial speaker who said Muslim extremism is a huge, still-too-ignored problem exacerbated by political correctness and a complacent mainstream media. Event organizers and University of Michigan public safety officials had anticipated trouble after demonstrators heckled speakers and audience members at two recent campus events on the Middle East. There were no problems Monday night, although it was clear some in the audience were offended by the speaker. Brigitte Gabriel - who founded the organization American Congress for Truth after the Sept. 11 attacks to raise awareness about radical Islamists she...

A traffic stop in Detroit has led to serious suspicion , police said . Detroit police officers pulled over a vehicle near Atkinson and Second streets on a traffic stop. When officers questioned the driver, the man said he was from West Africa. In the trunk of the vehicle, police found license plates from different states, identifications cards and Arabic literature, Local 4 reported. The man was taken in to custody on a traffic violation. Police will not comment on the items found in the vehicle, but did say they are working with federal authorities.

A U.S. law enforcement official tells CNN that the man held in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey offered details about the condition of her body that have never been made public.

Local Muslim group plans peace rally The Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor and Vicinity (MCA) announced it will hold a rally and march Friday afternoon to call for an immediate ceasefire in the fighting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. The demonstration is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the Federal Building on Liberty Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues in Ann Arbor, according to a statement from the MCA. The MCA will be joined by other local organizations, including the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice and Michigan Peace Works. "Day after day we hear...

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons have disappeared from Iraq, the chief of the U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency has warned. Satellite imagery shows entire buildings that once housed high-precision equipment that could be used to make nuclear bombs have been dismantled, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a letter to the Security Council.

The Arab-American Political Action Committee in Dearborn announced their endorsement for the Sen. John Kerry-Sen. John Edwards ticket in the 2004 presidential election Tuesday night. "We believe Senator Kerry will make America stronger, safer and more respected throughout the world," said AAPAC president Abed Hammoud in a written statement. "AAPAC endorsed George W. Bush four years ago. Members of our community have strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with his policies. With respect to civil rights and foreign policy, we hope Senator Kerry will change the course the Bush administration has put America on." "We played a role in electing George Bush...

WASHINGTON — Foreigners entering the United States through airports and seaports began getting their fingerprints scanned and photographs taken Monday as part of a new U.S. initiative to protect the homeland from terrorists. The Homeland Security Department (search) ordered U.S. airports and seaports to fingerprint and photograph foreigners from all but 28 nations as part of US-VISIT (search), or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology. The program will check an estimated 24 million foreigners each year traveling on tourist, business and student visas who enter through an airport or seaport. The goal is "to ensure our borders remain open...

SUMPTER TOWNSHIP, Mich.-- In addition to trucking garbage across the border to Michigan, Toronto soon may be shipping its human waste as well. The Carlton Farms landfill in Wayne County's Sumpter Township and the Ontario capital city are completing a four-year deal to accept Canadian human waste, according to published reports. But the owners of the landfill and Toronto officials say sewage sludge from Detroit is already being trucked to the landfill site, about 30 miles southwest of Detroit. The deal with landfill owner Republic Services is expected to go before a Toronto City Council committee on Wednesday. The proposal...

Up to 30,000 members of Iraq's black-hooded Fedayeen Saddam militia are using terrorist tactics to fight coalition forces in southern Iraq, are threatening the local population, and, intelligence reports indicate, plan to don U.S. military uniforms. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that the Fedayeen Saddam, meaning "those ready to sacrifice themselves for Saddam," were dispatched to southern Iraq and are using guerrilla tactics such as fake surrenders to fight U.S. and British troops in the cities of Basra, Nasiriyah and Umm Qasr. "We have intelligence information saying that the Fedayeen Saddam people — I'm not going to call...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted over the Sea of Japan on Sunday by four armed North Korean MiG fighter jets, U.S. military sources said. At least two of the planes were MiG-29s. The two other fighters were thought to be MiG-23s. U.S. military sources said Monday that the Air Force plane was in international airspace about 150 miles [240 kilometers] off the Korean peninsula when the MiGs approached and flew alongside for 20 minutes, at some points coming within less than 400 feet of the U.S. plane. One of the North Korean fighters...

So many people made their way to the Ann Arbor mosque on Tuesday - the second most festive day of the Muslim year - that men and women in separate rooms stood and knelt shoulder-to-shoulder along temporary blue-taped lines and city police helped control traffic on Plymouth Road. The morning marked the start of Eid ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice that comes on the 10th day of the month of the Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca that two million Muslims annually make to mark the prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice for Allah. Traditionally, people make sacrifices of sheep or...

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) - A plan to build the nation's first Muslim summer camp has angered residents who say it would threaten the environment, their rural lifestyle and the nation's security. Homeowners became concerned in 1999 when the Cedar Rapids-based Muslim Youth Camps of America filed an application to lease 106 acres along Coralville Lake, about five miles north of Iowa City. After Sept. 11, 2001, the voices grew more strident. "I have no doubt it will draw people from all over the world, and I think we have to think about security," said Bob Lisenbee, who lives nearby....

<p>SANTA ANA – At least 22 men from Arab or Islamic countries were arrested Monday as they went to the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Santa Ana office to register under a new program aimed at improving screening of foreign visitors in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, police officials confirmed.</p>

The University of Michigan will survey Arab Americans in the Detroit area, a population now estimated at somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 people. The U-M Institute for Social Research will sample 1,000 Arab Americans in the Detroit area, plus another 500 non-Arabs. Researchers hope to show the similarities and differences in attitudes, behavior and opinions among various Arab-American groups and between these groups and other Americans. "The aftermath of Sept. 11 has brought new urgency to issues of national identity, multiculturalism and social trust and has raised new questions about what being an American means," said Wayne Baker, the project's...

Fashion writer Isioma Daniel is reported to have left Nigeria after calls for her to be killed for insulting the Prophet Mohammed. Colleagues at ThisDay newspaper say she is now in the United States, according to Reuters news agency. On Tuesday, authorities in the northern state of Zamfara issued what they said was a "fatwa", urging Muslims to kill her for writing the article, which sparked religious riots in the northern city of Kaduna. At least 220 people were killed in several days of clashes between the city's Muslims and Christians. Kaduna is now reported to be calm. A fatwa...

<p>SEATTLE — U.N. weapons inspectors should have no trouble communicating with some of the scientists in Iraq's weapons program. After the Gulf War it was discovered that many of Saddam Hussein's top engineers were educated in the United States then forced to work on Iraqi military projects.</p>

An object (inset picture is closeup view) can be seen streaking below a jet. Brandon Mowry said that he didn't notice the fast-moving object zooming across the sky on Oct. 20 near Colonie until he went back to his station and watched the video. No one apparently knows what it is. The FBI is investigating. Agents are trying determine exactly what the object is. Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said that whatever the object is, it never showed up on local radar.

TAYLOR, Mich.-- A man who reportedly bought a large quantity of ammunition at a local Wal-Mart store Thursday night does not pose a threat, according to the FBI. Police said that in light of the recent news of shooting in the Washington, D.C. area, they were concerned about why a man purchased 300 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun shells and 320 rounds of .223-caliber bullets. According to police, the man bought the large quantity of ammunition, got into a white van with Florida license plates and drove off around 8 p.m. The FBI investigated and has determined that the man does...

DETROIT - Attorneys representing several newspapers, including The Ann Arbor News, will file an emergency motion today in federal court to gain access to parts of Rabih Haddad's bond hearing that were closed Tuesday despite a judicial order stating that such acts violated the Constitution. Herschel Fink, an attorney representing the newspapers, was talking to his associates about the motion on the telephone minutes after Immigration Judge Robert Newberry closed the final portions of Tuesday's bond hearing for jailed Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Haddad without providing reasons about 6 p.m. Fink said the emergency motion will be filed before...

Haddad's Lawyers Continue Fight For Bond DETROIT-- Lawyers for a Muslim cleric will reportedly return to court Wednesday in an effort to have a bond granted for the man, who has been in prison for nine months. Rabih Haddad, the co-founder of an Islamic charity accused of having terrorist ties, testified Tuesday at his public detention hearing that he would not flee if he was released. The government has argued that Haddad is a flight risk and shouldn't be set free because he is a threat to national security, according to a Local 4 report. In a newly filed document,...

A stolen flight attendant's uniform has police on guard. A United Airline's flight attendant had the day off Saturday and decided to take in a Tiger game. While she watched the game, someone broke into her 1999 Chevy Blazer, Local 4 reported. Missing from the vehicle are a number of items important enough to put federal and local law enforcement agencies on high alert. The missing uniform, stolen from the woman's SUV, could lead to a serious breach in airport security. A police bulletin obtained by Local 4 alerts officers around the city to be on the lookout for the...

BELLEVILLE, Mich.-- A dispute over baggy pants has lead to the suspension of two Belleville High School students, Local 4 reported Thursday. Van Buren School District officials sent out a letter this summer warning parents and students about tougher dress code standards aimed at reducing distractions in the classroom. "Students shall not wear pants that, when fastened, sag or fit below the waist," the policy states. Charlene Byrd is upset that teachers have allegedly been pulling up students' shirts to check to see whether the students are adhering to the policy. Byrd's son, Matt, is one of the boys who...

DETROIT-- A crash between a motorcycle and a car turned deadly Monday. Police said that a gray car was turning left onto LaSalle from Davison with a driver and two passengers. Police said that the driver had no time to react when the motorcyclist came at her at four times the posted speed limit. The cycle almost cut the car in half, Local 4 reported. Police said that the bike is a new breed called a "Superbike" and is known for its speed. The speedometer reportedly goes to 220 mph. Detroit Police Officer Rodney Jones said that the motorcyclist was...

A federal immigration judge denied bond for Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Haddad in December because he was less than forthcoming about his income and showed a pattern of deceit, according to court transcripts released late Friday. Haddad, 41, a Lebanon native arrested Dec. 14 for overstaying a tourist visa, initially refused to answer questions about how he supports his family of five and how he traveled to almost every major city in America over the past 14 years. When he did talk on cross examination, he disclosed minimal information, the documents said. The decision by U.S. Immigration Judge Elizabeth...

It was the kind of language that would make even Larry Flynt blush. Last year, a man charged with stalking his former co-workers spent an entire trial berating lawyers and court personnel in such explicit terms that members of the public began showing up just to watch the spectacle. At sentencing, after listening to the defendant blast nearly everyone in the courtroom, San Diego Superior Court Judge William Mudd decided he had heard enough. Muzzle him! Mudd commanded. Four bailiffs promptly stuck a gag in the defendant's mouth. The man spent the rest of the hearing grunting into a piece...

After Danielle van Dam was abducted from her Sabre Springs home, neighbors, friends and even strangers volunteered to help out. Some put up fliers in storefronts around the county, and others joined the search party. But many also opened their checkbooks. As of Friday, more than $33,000 had been donated by people from New Jersey to Oregon. During the search for the 7-year-old, donations totaling more than $10,600 flowed into an account in Danielle's name. And since the discovery of her body in rural East County nearly a month after she was reported missing, an additional $22,800 has been deposited....

The deportation hearing for the wife of a local Muslim leader was postponed Tuesday. A judge ordered Salma al-Rashaid and her husband Rabih Haddad's cases consolidated so that they will be heard by the same judge. Rabih Haddad was arrested in December for remaining in the United States after his visa expired. Al-Rashaid admits that she also stayed in the country after her visa expired, but applied for an extension. The couple has four children. Haddad is being held by U.S. marshals in Chicago. The government is investigating whether a charity group Haddad is associated with funded terrorist groups. Haddad ...

WASHINGTON - Salam Al-Rushaid -wife of jailed Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Haddad -told a House panel Thursday that her family still has faith in the system. "The Constitution's great and hopefully justice will prevail," she said. Al-Rushaid and Haddad's attorney, Ashraf Nubani, were invited to speak at a racial-profiling forum held by Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit. "I want to thank you for your courage to come forward and be with us today," Conyers told Al-Rushaid. "For all you've gone through, I think I say collectively for everyone here, our hearts go out to you." Nubani told the panel Haddad ...

Jailed Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Haddad's wife and children now are facing their own battle to stay in the United States. Salma Al-Rushaid, Haddad's wife, said Monday that she received letters from the Justice Department stating she and her children, except American-born Rami, 8, face deportation because they are not citizens and entered the United States on visas that have since expired. Al-Rushaid received the letters after returning home late Saturday from a demonstration on her husband's behalf in Chicago. "I was so scared because I thought they were coming immediately, like they did for my husband, but I'm ...

<p>LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday that authorities are working to create "Westernized" pictures of the five men suspected of being would-be suicide terrorists. Officials hope the updated photos will help lead to the men's apprehension. "We're working on that right now," Ashcroft told CNN's Larry King Live. "We hope to be able to release that as soon as possible, because it's very likely ... these individuals have Westernized their appearance so they could blend in." Authorities have called on the public's help in finding the five men, and last week the government released pictures and videotape without sound of them apparently making martyrdom statements. The tapes were recovered from the ruins of the Afghanistan home of Mohammad Atef, named as a top aide to Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks against the United States. Atef was killed by an airstrike in November, according to U.S. officials. Four of the men were identified by name: Abd Al-Rahim, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan, Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani and Ramzi Binalshibh. Little is known about the men, except for Binalshibh, who had been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the government's indictment against Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in direct connection to the September 11 attacks. Binalshibh has been named by U.S. and German authorities as a member of the Hamburg al Qaeda cell, and he is wanted by Germany on mass murder charges in connection with the September attacks against the United States. Ashcroft said Binalshibh has tried to enter the United States three times and is "an individual we care deeply about." "It could be he wanted to be the 20th hijacker," Ashcroft said. The videotapes show the men in Arab garb, with beards making statements that authorities have described as martyrdom statements. Ashcroft said he will make the audio portions of the videotapes available to the public only if doing so might help authorities locate them. "If we believe that the messages somehow will be helpful, then we'll provide it. We want to make sure that we don't provide these folks with any opportunity to signal or assist in any activity with these tapes," he said. "Multiple interpreters" are currently parsing the tapes, he said.</p>

Interviews Expected To Begin Soon Posted: 4:04 p.m. EST November 26, 2001 Updated: 4:31 p.m. EST November 26, 2001 DETROIT-- Federal authorities plan to begin interviewing nearly 1,000 men of Middle Eastern descent as soon as possible, as part of the ongoing terrorist investigation, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said Monday. Collins said that investigators will try to conduct the interviews in the "least intrusive manner" possible and that agents would cease questioning the men if they chose not to answer questions during the process. U.S. Attorney Talks About Interview Process Letters were sent to 870 people who may have information ...

DETROIT -- Authorities could begin questioning hundreds of Middle Eastern men in Michigan by this weekend as part of the federal terrorism investigation, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said. The interviews are part of a nationwide effort to contact more than 5,000 visitors from Middle Eastern countries, and determine if they have been recruited by Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, al-Qaida. Officials have asked the 18- to 33-year-olds, who have been in the U.S. on nonimmigrant, tourist, business or student visas since Jan. 1, 2000, to participate in voluntary interviews. Michigan has one of the nation's largest Arab-American communities. The interviews ...