DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - MICHIGAN: 3 EX-TERRORISTS SPEAKING OUT, MOSLEM LEADERS UPSET

Speech by self-proclaimed ex-militants upsets Muslim leaders
January 29, 2007
By NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Three men on a mission to warn the public about Islamic extremism are speaking Tuesday night in Ann Arbor at an event that has drawn criticism from some Arab-Americans and Muslims who say the speakers are promoting hatred.

Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem, and Zachariah Anani, of Windsor, were born into Muslim families and say they are former militants who fought in the Middle East. They will speak at the University of Michigan in a public forum being billed as "The 3 Ex-Terrorists."

Raised in Lebanon, Anani claims he once battled for various militias, but later converted to Christianity to escape a religion whose adherents, he said, are often violent and intolerant. "I'm not opposing Muslims, I'm opposed to the orthodox doctrine of Islam," Anani said, which wants to "bring back the glory years of Islam by...jihad."

But the head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Imad Hamad, said "this is another form of hate...in the name of fighting terrorism."

Hamad met today with university officials to express the community's concern about the event. The event is being sponsored by the Michigan chapter of the conservative group, Young Americans for Freedom, and the Walid Shoebat Foundation.

"It has nothing to do with hatred of any certain people," said Keith Davies, director of the foundation. "But there's a certain ideology we have a problem with, and that's what we need to expose."

According to their biographies posted on the website, www.3xterrorists.com, Shoebat and Saleem once fought for the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Hamad said he doubted that the three men were actually former terrorists.

"This is a case of baloney that will not fool anyone," Hamad said.

Pertinent Links:

1) Speech by self-proclaimed ex-militants upsets Muslim leaders