Posted on 05/02/2002 12:22:41 PM PDT by Dallas
DETROIT, May 2 (UPI) -- An Ann Arbor, Mich., man who has been detained by federal authorities since mid-December has accused the FBI of "railroading" him and engaging in a "deliberate disinformation propaganda campaign."
Rabih Haddad, 41, a Muslim cleric and co-founder of the Islamic group Global Relief Foundation, issued a letter from his federal jail cell, denying any ties to the Islamic terrorist group al Qaida and calling the FBI "dishonest."
"I have been railroaded by the government in a series of actions that had denied me the most basic of rights," Haddad said in a letter released with 1,250 pages of documents in response to lawsuits filed by the Detroit News and other media organizations. "(Government officials) were engaged in a deliberate disinformation propaganda campaign, and still are, to assassinate my character and tarnish my reputation."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, supported Haddad's allegations Thursday, criticizing the federal government for bringing the case administratively instead of criminally "so evidence does not have to be produced."
"All we ask in all of these cases ... (is) bring a charge in a court of law and let people rebut it in a court of law," Hooper said.
The FBI had no comment.
Global Relief is among the Muslim organizations whose assets were seized in government raids because of suspected ties to terrorism.
Haddad has been in federal custody since Dec. 14 on a visa violation and authorities are in the process of attempting to deport him, his wife and three of his four children because their tourist visas expired in 1999. His fourth child, an 8-year-old, was born in the United States.
In court papers, the FBI maintained Haddad had been seen at sites that "housed and supported terrorist organizations associated with al Qaida" in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The government had sought to keep the deportation hearings and attendant documents secret, claiming national security, but U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds ruled the secret hearings unconstitutional.
The government has been trying to convince Haddad to testify before a federal grand jury in Chicago but his attorney has said he would assert his Fifth Amendment rights. Government papers released earlier indicated at the time Haddad was arrested he had several large "bricks" of cash in his briefcase.
Earlier this week, the federal government arrested Emaam M. Arnaout, executive director of the Benevolence International Foundation of Palos Hills, Ill., and charged him with perjury for allegedly lying in federal court documents about links to international terrorism.
As with Global Relief, BIF's assets have been frozen by the federal government because of suspected terrorist ties. BIF filed suit in an attempt to lift the freeze.
Hooper expressed outrage with those charges as well.
"Charge him (Arnaout) with terrorism and not perjury," Hooper said. "To use a lawsuit to do a criminal charge -- it's unheard of. If they had evidence of criminal activity, they should bring it to a court of law, not use backhanded legal technicalities."
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
Saw that little bugger this morning whining to the press. How can any world leader take him seriously?
So consider that, any and every time, you hear an utterance. Consider it every time. You'll get closer to the truth, that way. truth_seeker
He has no rights. He is an illegal alien who has overstayed his visa for more than 2 years.
They should deport this criminal (and his family) back to his homeland. He can whine all he wants from there.
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