Middle East studies in the News

Muslim Leaders Upset With FBI [incl. Ingrid Mattson]

United Press International
December 18, 2009

http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/139375.html

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/8894

Muslim leaders in theUnited States say relations between the religious community and the FBI have worsened in recent months, a newspaperreported Friday.

Some Muslims say in lawsuits they were told their green cards depended on whether they were willing to inform on family members outside the country, The New York Times reports. A group of South Asian Muslims in New York told the newspaper they were assembling a data base of complaints about investigators.

Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, was the Muslim representative at a prayer service in Washington after President Obama's inauguration. She said she knows Muslims who have canceled overseas trips or are less willing to give to Muslim charities.

"There is a sense that law enforcement is viewing our communities not as partners but as objects of suspicion," she said. "A lot of people are really, really alarmed about this."

The FBI says it tries to work with Muslim leaders. In October, agents met with 40 leaders in the New York borough of Queens.

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