Posted on 03/22/2002 12:45:31 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
CAIRO, March 21, (IslamOnline) - The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation raided several Muslim organizations Wednesday morning, in Virginia, Georgia, and Washington D.C., a prominent Muslim American told IslamOnline Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with IslamOnline, Dr. Mohamed S. Omeish, President of the Success Foundation, said that several organizations had been raided, including the Success Foundation, a not-for-profit, charity foundation set up for educational and humanitarian work. The Muslim World League offices were also raided, as well as several Muslim-owned businesses, such as MAR-JAC companies, and Sterling Management.
"The raids were all carried out at approximately the same time, for the element of surprise," he stated.
Omeish said that although the FBI claimed that they were not specifically singling out Muslims, "everyone who was targeted was Muslim, and all organizations raided were Muslim."
"I was a witness to what happened. About 15 FBI agents raided the Success Foundation offices around 11 a.m.," he said noting that all the raids were carried out at the same time.
"The FBI agents burst into the offices, wielding their weapons. They told everyone to put their hands up and turn around. They conducted body searches on all the employees, and asked us if we had any weapons on us. Obviously we did not," he said.
"The FBI then took everyone's personal information. We then asked them the reason for the raids and asked to see their warrant. They showed us the warrant which was issued on March 13, 2002.
"The FBI agents wanted to interrogate us, but we demanded the presence of our lawyers, after which they stopped questioning us and told us we could go home."
"We refused to leave the offices until they left, which happened around 6 p.m. During this time they refused to let us use the phones, whether to make calls, or to answer them. They took all the documents they found in the office, including the computers."
"They asked us to contact the agent in charge of the interrogations regarding the raids, dubbed "Operation Green Quest", if we wanted to help them in any way," Omeish added.
"Evidently there is a group of people in the [George W.] Bush administration who would like to see that Muslims are not allowed to help their fellow Muslims overseas, even if this help was legitimate. The Success Foundation is a respectable, legitimate charity," he stated.
When asked if Muslims could take any action regarding these developments, he said, "We have to find out more. Why are we a part of this investigation? Are there going to be any criminal charges against us?"
"We have to talk to our lawyers," he added. "We are going to hold a press conference at noon today to voice our outrage against what happened, but in order to take any legal action, we will have to talk to our lawyers."
"Muslims in America are being consistently targeted by the government. The FBI claimed that they were after any organizations that allegedly funded 'terrorists', but the organizations they raided were legitimate charities and businesses," he said.
Who else?
I'm sorry, but the Europeans, Japanese, Indians, Africans, Mexicans and others are NOT currently engaging in terrorism against the USA.
I'm a 5th generation American and descendant of Spanish Basques. I don't call myself a Spanish-American, I'm an American, PERIOD. And I don't care about the Basque separatists' cause and I sure as hell ain't sending their terrorists any money. I expect the same of the Muslims. If they can't or won't do it, it's time for them to hit the road. America and its culture should be their priority only.
The next to fall: Fatah, Force 17, Tanzim, Palestinian Authority.
I can dream, can't I?
Thanks to the efforts of the INS, the fact that some local law enforcement entities refused to cooperate, and other PC considerations, they couldn't find them.
Tough turds. Guess these people didn't grow up here, or they'd remember the principle that THE WHOLE CLASS PAYS THE PRICE FOR THE SCREW UPS OF A FEW, or "One bad apple spoils the bunch," LIKE THE REST OF US LEARNED in gradeschool.
Send them to live in Siberia and then let them cry about how bad America is.
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