Why hasnt this group been more widely exposed?
Its founder was the man Danny Pearl was going to visit!
I happened to be working near the scene of the Million Man March at the time when it occurred. So, during my lunch break, I took a walk past the marchers on the Mall in D.C. I passed a group, one of whose members said, "Let's not say anything while the enemy is here," meaning me. That guy knew nothing about me, beyond my appearance. I was the "enemy" because I was white.
"I might go to Pakistan after our national convention, we will see," Farrakhan said. "If they desire my presence in Pakistan, if my presence in the Muslim world will be advantageous and will help us to come through this time of crisis ... I will go."
Farrakhan said the kidnapping of Pearl is against the teachings of Islam and will not further its cause.
"Islam as a religion is on trial throughout the world," he said. "There is no reason to take an American citizen, no matter where they are in the world, and do them harm simply because you do not like America's policies. This is against Islam."
Pearl, 38, was abducted January 23 while on his way to interview Sheikh Mubarik ali Gilani, the head of the fundamentalist Islamic Jamaat ul-Fuqra group. He wanted to ask Gilani about possible ties the group had to Richard Reid, the alleged airplane shoe bomber being held in the United States.
The U.S. arm of al Fuqra - which means "the impoverished" in Arabic - was founded in 1980 when Gilani traveled from Pakistan to a black mosque in Brooklyn. On this and subsequent trips, the charismatic sheikh helped recruit up to 3,000 members nationwide. Al Fuqra is not aligned with the Nation of Islam, and in fact it has serious theological differences with Louis Farrakhan's flock.
About two dozen families live at the 44-acre compound near Red House, but al Fuqra is headquartered in Hancock, N.Y. Members of the sect occasionally travel abroad for what Thomas P. Gallagher of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms calls "paramilitary and survivalist training" under Gilani's supervision. Gilani also is known to have recruited Americans to fight with the mujahedeen against the Soviets in the '80s.
Al Fuqra demonstrated its violent streak early on. From its first days more than two decades ago, members have attacked a virtual rainbow coalition of targets, including Hare Krishnas in San Diego, Hindus in Toronto, Sikhs in Seattle and Buddhists in Illinois. Gilani is obsessed with the Kashmir conflict and many of al Fuqra's victims have had ties to India. (Pearl is based in Bombay.)