Posted on 08/24/2005 9:53:24 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The FBI has launched an inquiry into the dealings of an Orange County grocery store owner who is allegedly the U.S. leader of a little-known radical Islamic group that has been banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East, authorities said.
Iyad Hilal, an Islamic author and philosopher, has lived in Orange County for more than a decade and hasn't drawn much attention to his writings or his role in the group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, which means Party of Liberation.
The group has come under attack since the July 7 bombings in London where British Prime Minister Tony Blair suggested banning the group there.
Hilal is apparently not suspected of any terrorist acts, but FBI terrorism investigators want to know more about his and the group's activities.
FBI spokeswoman Cathy Viray declined to call it an investigation but confirmed that "we're looking into the matter." She declined to comment further.
Hilal, 56, has lived in the United States for about 20 years and is an Islamic scholar whose writings argued that the religion was not compatible with democracy.
Georgetown University professor John Esposito, author of "Unholy War on Terror in the Name of Islam," said the group saw most Muslim countries as not following Islamic law.
"Theirs is a rigorous, hard-line view of the kind of government they want to see implemented in Muslim countries," he said. "To them democracy is a good thing for the West, but Islam doesn't need it."
The group advocates a return to the days when all Muslims were governed by a religious leader known as the caliph.
In a 1992 essay, Hilal wrote that Western countries contradicted the teachings of Islam.
His book "Studies in Usual Ul Fiqh," in which he explains Islamic law, has been used in courses at universities in the Middle East and Britain, according to an Internet search.
Salam Al-Marayati, spokesman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, said he did not believe Hizb ut-Tahrir advocated terrorism in the United States, but said he was not surprised the FBI was looking into the group.
"People in Washington think that those who want an Islamic state are terrorists. That's not always the case," Marayati said.
Hilal came to the FBI's attention this month when Fox News identified him as leader of an Orange County-based terrorist cell that had connections to the London bombings.
Radical cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, former head of Hizb ut-Tahrir in England, identified Hilal as leader of the U.S. branch in a 2004 interview with the Terrorism Monitor, published by the Jamestown Foundation in Washington.
>>To them democracy is a good thing for the West, but Islam doesn't need it
Funny, if they hate it so much, why live here.
Time to ship this puppy out.
Am I mistaken or is 'scholar' an example of ludicrous misuse of a noun when modified by 'Islamic?'
Oh, for Heaven's Sake......it took FOX NEWS to get the FBI'S ATTENTION FOR THIS GUY?????
Is this the same clown you guys were talking about who is in La Habra???
He should be sent to an internment camp.
I was wondering if it was the same guy. His town isn't mentioned in this article.
This is the guy. Unfortunately, I asked for the other thread to be pulled. FOX News had put up the address in La Habra, and it belonged to some innocent guy who recently moved in. He must have seen FR because I heard him on the radio worried that people were coming to protest in front of his house. Whoops.
I bet it is close to the biggest of 14 Mosque's in Orange County....
>>>>The FBI has launched an inquiry into the dealings of an Orange County grocery store owner who is allegedly the U.S. leader of a little-known radical Islamic group that has been banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East, authorities said.
I've heard he has a franchise of fruit stands.
::joking::
Saturday may be good for me. :)
Bump.
One by one, we will find them.
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