Israel Arrests Deported Imam In West Bank
January 8, 2007
DETROIT -- The former imam of Ohio's largest mosque who was deported to his native West Bank last week because of his aid to a group classified as terrorist was arrested by Israeli authorities after crossing from Jordan, his brother said Monday.
Fawaz Damra, 47, had been jailed in Monroe County, Mich., for a year while awaiting deportation for concealing his ties to Islamic Jihad when he applied for U.S. citizenship in 1994. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced his removal Friday.
His brother, Nabil Damra, said the Red Cross and the Center for the Defense of the Individual, an Israeli advocacy group for Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories, informed him that Fawaz Damra was in custody and had been taken to Israel's Al Jalameh detention facility near Jenin in the northern West Bank.
“He was arrested the moment he arrived to the border," Nabil Damra said through a translator by cell phone from the West Bank. He said a lawyer had been hired for his brother.
Don Bryant, president of the Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network and a friend of Damra's, was alarmed when he learned Damra had been detained. "Our biggest fear is that he might stand trial in Israel," Bryant said. "This is a nightmare for him."
Excerpted
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/10699241/detail.html
The Islamic Society of South Australia says it has not had a response from the Foreign Affairs Department about why it has not been granted funding from the Saudi Arabian Government.
The society needs to rebuild its mosque in Park Holme and went to the Saudi Arabian Embassy for help more than a year ago. The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, yesterday said the possibility of funding coming from extremist groups is being investigated.
A spokesman for the Islamic Society's management committee, who does not want to be named, told ABC radio they have gone through the appropriate channels to get the money. "We did that September 2005, we wrote a letter to the Middle Eastern section in the Department of Foreign Affairs and that letter...has not been responded to at all," he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1823776.htm
Well alrighty then. Here's your answer boys.
Security alert blocks mosque funds
January 09, 2007
National security concerns relating to an Adelaide mosque have prompted the Federal Government to block $200,000 in Saudi Arabian funding.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer yesterday revealed the Government had "expressed a view" to the Saudi Government about the mosque's application for money to help fund a new building. The unspecified "security concerns" are understood to relate to at least one person associated with the Islamic Centre SA, based at 658 Marion Rd, Park Holme. The Advertiser yesterday confirmed the mosque's leadership was told early last year the transfer of funds from Saudi Arabia had been stopped after a request from the Australian Government.
Details of the proposed funding emerged as authorities confirmed a former mosque member, Warya Kanie, 39, had been held in Iraq since October on charges of allegedly conspiring to commit acts of terrorism against U.S.-led forces.
Excerpted
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21031191-5006301,00.html
So there he is.
Thank you Oorang.