FBI questions Muslims in mosques

10/8/2004 8:55:00 AM GMT

FBI agents across the United States have kicked off a new campaign of visiting mosques to question Muslims to get information related to a possible pre-election attacks.

Questioning Muslims in Mosques has indeed provoked sharp protests from American Civil Liberties Union and several Muslim organizations.

In a press conference, Shirin Sinnar, president of the San Francisco Association of Muslim Lawyers, said that she fears the Bush administration is trying to "sow fear in the Muslim community and chill Muslim political expression."

Sinnar showed pamphlets and wallet-sized cards in English, Arabic and Urdu, that were distributed among Muslims at mosques and markets. These pamphlets and cards inform people they have a right to have an attorney present before speaking to any FBI investigator. They also provide a list a telephone numbers to get legal assistance for free.

Nancy Hormachea, vice president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in San Francisco, accused the FBI of "targeting and demonizing Muslims".

American Muslim Voice director for Northern California, Khalid Saeed, said that the American Muslims and Arabs feel threatened and in danger by the new campaign.

Saeed said that the FBI had previously launched four separate rounds of questioning, that included interrogating interviewees with questions about their religious practices and political beliefs not related to terrorism.

"The FBI plans to deliberately tail people based on their religion or ethnic origin during a month that is both religiously and politically crucial," said Dalia Hashad, the American Civil Liberty Union's Arab, Muslim and South Asian Advocate.

"Instead of bolstering security, the FBI's new drive is going to stop Muslims and Arabs from attending mosques during the month of Ramadan, and participating in the upcoming election," she added.