.bmp)
.bmp)
DETROIT-A Michigan Muslim organization said Thursday it has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder(picture left) to investigate complaints that the FBI is asking followers of the faith to spy on Islamic leaders and worshippers.The Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan sent a letter last week to Holder after mosques and other groups reported members of the community have been approached to monitor people coming to mosques and donations they make.The FBI's Detroit office denied the allegations Thursday.Andrew Arena, special agent in charge of the local office, said in a statement that the office had worked hard on its relationship with the Arab-American community in the region, and that no allegations of wrong had been brought to its attention.Based on the complaints, the agency appears to be on a "fishing expedition," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations."If there was a specific imam who they felt was telling people to support Osama bin Laden, that's a different story-we wouldn't have a problem with that," he said. "Community members would be the first people to report to federal law enforcement if such things were being said."Walid said the most common complaints were from people with pending immigration issues being approached by agents to monitor mosques in exchange for help in resolving their citizenship cases."The FBI does not target innocent individuals or institutions," Arena's statement said. It noted that using sources in legally predicated investigations is accepted police work, but that the agency does not conduct "fishing expeditions."Walid said the complaints are not new, but they've grown after a recent revelation that the FBI planted a spy in a Southern California mosque.An agent testified in February at a detention hearing that an informant infiltrated mosques in Orange County, Calif., and befriended Ahmadullah Niazi, brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard. Niazi was charged with lying about his ties to terrorist groups on his citizenship and passport applications.Former FBI agents and federal prosecutors have said spying on mosques is one of the government's best weapons to thwart terrorists, but agents need to have credible and specific information before sending in a plant.By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press Writer
As in the days of Noah...
