[Excerpt]
A Muslim who worked at a subsidiary of Sears said he was repeatedly called "bin Laden," "Taliban" and "terrorist," then was fired after he complained.
Belal Degedeh, who is of Jordanian and Palestinian origin, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday charging he was discriminated against for his ancestry and religion.
Degedeh worked for Sears Logistics Services Inc. as a merchandise distributor. He claims as he unloaded trucks at a receiving dock, co-workers asked him if he was going to blow up the building and whether he had a bomb. When he told another co-worker he was from Palestine, Degedeh said he was asked: "Is that where the crazy Muslims are blowing themselves up?
Well at least they didn't make him put panties on his head.
Border alert for terror suspect outdated, FBI says
Adnan G. El Shukrijumah has been wanted by the United States since 2003.
Dennis Wagner
Arizona Republic
Aug. 18, 2004 01:00 PM
An FBI spokeswoman in Arizona said news reports that a notorious terrorism suspect may be planning to cross the Mexican border into the United States are overblown and outdated.
Several publications reported Wednesday on an FBI alert about Adnan El Shukrijumah, thought to be an al-Qaida cell leader.
But special agent Susan Herskovits said the story is based on speculation stemming from old and unverified intelligence.
Months ago, Herskovits said, investigators received an unconfirmed report that Shukrijumah had been sighted in Honduras. Based on that information - and the fear that he might try to enter the United States to carry out a terrorist attack - there was speculation that he could mingle with Hispanic immigrants crossing the Arizona or Texas border.
So the FBI, which has spread a wide net in the hunt for Shukrijumah, issued a bulletin to law enforcement officials along the Mexican border.
"It's not new,'' Herskovits said Wednesday. "We've had three 'be-on-the-lookouts' alerts for this guy (since March){ellipsis} And it's not like the sighting in Honduras was even verified.''
Shukrijumah, described as a pilot and bombmaker, was among several suspected al Qaida figures who met in Pakistan during March, according to Los Angeles Times and other publications. Pakistani officials said that meeting also was attended by Osama bin Laden lieutenant Abu Eisa al Hindi, and communications engineer Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, whose computer discs allegedly contained surveillance reports for a planned attack on buildings in the United States and Britain.
Attorney General John Ashcroft recently singled out Shukrijumah as one of seven especially dangerous international terror figures wanted by the government. A $5 million reward has been issued for information leading to his capture.
Shukrijumah, a 29-year-old Arab-American who suffers from asthma, reportedly was born in Guyana, raised in south Florida and speaks fluent English. The son of a radical Muslim cleric who recently died in Florida, he also is known by several aliases and nicknames, including "Jaffar the Pilot.''
Newsweek magazine said authorities have been hunting Shukrijumah since al Qaida's attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. With no solid leads, counter-terrorism agents began trying to smoke him out with publicity.
Besides the alert along Mexico's border, FBI agents have warned that he might attempt to enter the United States via Canada, or might return to Florida. They also asked officials in Guyana to help locate him.
A Spanish-language bulletin issued months ago says he may use a passport from Saudi Arabia, Canada or Trinidad.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0818borderalert-ON.html
Thought you might want to peruse this for your website and the Jaffar update:
http://www.trackingthethreat.com/content/entities/ent1387.htm
(be sure to scroll down to the "relationships" section)