Posted on 01/05/2006 9:46:47 PM PST by Nachum
DETROIT - A Cleveland imam convicted of hiding terrorist ties has agreed to leave the United States, ending his deportation case, his attorney and government officials said Thursday.
The agreement allows Fawaz Damra to resettle in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Egypt or the Palestinian territories, said Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review.
A judge has approved the agreement with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will decide his destination.
Damra is still in federal custody, said Robert Birach, a Detroit lawyer who negotiated for him. He declined to discuss more details.
Damra, spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, is Palestinian-born. He was convicted in 2004 of concealing ties to alleged terrorist groups when he applied for U.S. citizenship in 1994. He served two months in prison and lost his U.S. citizenship.
Damra's naturalization fraud conviction wasn't enough to warrant deportation because he has legally lived in the United States for five years. Immigration officials sought to remove him on charges that he raised funds for terrorist organizations.
In Damra's 2004 trial, prosecutors showed video footage of him and other Islamic leaders raising money for an arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which since 1989 has been listed by the State Department as a terrorist group.
Haider Alawan, a Damra supporter and member of the Islamic Center of Cleveland's council of elders, said Damra could not afford to fight his case any further.
"He's resolved to the fact that you'd have to have unlimited resources to prove his innocence," Alawan said. "How far can you go without putting the family in a bad situation?"
Damra has a wife and three American-born daughters.
He should be visibly branded on the forehead and all four cheeks for the ease of future reference. What if he surfaces up again?
How can we infest this man with fleas right before he boards the plane out.
FEBRUARY 20, 2003 : (SAMI AL ARIAN & SEVEN OTHERS ARE INDICTED; AL ARIAN IS LINKED TO CLEVELAND IMAM FAWAZ DAMRAH- see PIJ) Washington- Cleveland Islamic leader Fawaz Damra has been linked to a Florida man who was indicted yesterday [Feb 20, 2003] as the leader of an alleged terrorist group responsible for more than 100 deaths in the Middle East.
A 50-count federal indict ment accuses Sami Amin Al- Arian, 45, a University of South Florida engineering professor, and seven other alleged Palestinian Islamic Jihad members of criminal racketeering, money laundering, conspiring to kill and maim people abroad, extortion, visa fraud, perjury and other charges. The defendants all face life in prison if they're convicted.
---- "Imam here is linked to terror suspect," by Sabrina Eaton, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 21, 2003
...but...but...I thought Gagne used to play for the Twins!
...and how do we know Damra won't just sneak back thru Mexico and settle in Tucson, eventually selling used Pintos (the lazy man's car bomb, just back into something!)
Cheers!
took them long enough. Now If only they can deport Lynne Stewart. They keep postponing her sentencing. I guess the judge is a bleeding heart liberal.
It would be a crying shame if he wasn't on the plane when it lands...
Robert Birach.
Remember this this name.
He is already infested, and an infestation..
Mayfield? My memory slips.
"Now If only they can deport Lynne Stewart."
She's an American citizen! Shame on our government for spying on her! She'll probably end up on the same tour as Cindy and rest of the treasonous citizens out there.
Maybe all the weather disasters are being caused by all our ancestors turning over in their graves at what this country has become!
The iman is returning home so he can operate more freely. But we can watch him there, but not in the US! Surprised the ACLU hasn't offered to defend him.
I'll pay for his ticket; a one-way flight out on Lawn Dart Airways.
This imam will operate against the USA from abroad. We will hear of him again.
Imam Fawaz Damra, center, is followed by reporters as he leaves federal court in Akron, Ohio with attorney Larry Zuckerman, left, and an unidentified supporter in this Sept. 20, 2004 file photo. Damra, the Muslim leader from Ohio who was convicted of lying about his involvement with a group the U.S. government designated a terrorist organization, has been deported to his native Palestinian territories, immigration authorities said Friday, Jan. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)
Names are easy to change, remember his face.
How about Hell...
L
One down, so many to go.
Imam Fawaz Damra Deported
WTAM RADIO ^ | 01/05/2007 | By Darren Toms
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