Islamic Group Wants FBI Help
By Associated Press
January 9, 2007
An Islamic coalition representing southeast Michigan Sunni groups and centers said Tuesday that the vandalism of Shiite mosques and businesses over the weekend could be hate crimes and called on the federal government to investigate.
Late Saturday night or early Sunday, vandals broke windows of two mosques and five businesses along Warren Avenue owned by Iraqi Shiites, the second largest Islamic sect after the Sunnis.
The owner of a restaurant whose windows were broken said he had received threatening phone calls before the vandalism that referred to his Shiite creed, according to the Islamic Shura Council of Michigan, based in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills.
Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens Bell said the department is investigating the vandalism and could not confirm if the incidents were hate crimes. She said police will review security tapes to try to identify the vandals.
The FBI said in a statement Tuesday that it has talked to the Council on American-Islamic Relations and leaders of other community groups. If the Detroit police find information that links the vandalism to federal civil-rights violations, the FBI would "pursue it accordingly."
Mouhib Ayas, president of the Islamic Shura Council, said the incidents appear to be a reaction to events in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and the execution of Saddam Hussein. Iraq's Shiite-controlled government ordered Saddam hanged before sunrise on Eid al-Hadha, or the Islamic Feast of the Sacrifice.
Ayas said a lot of people felt provoked by the timing of the execution late last month and viewed it more an act of revenge than carrying out justice, but he condemned the vandalism as an unfortunate act of a few individuals.
"They definitely do not reflect the feeling, position of the majority of Sunnis in Michigan," he said.
Ayas said he and others plan a meeting this week between area Sunni and Shiite leaders to ease tensions.
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and
Muslims seek peace
Sunnis, Shi'ites to meet after Detroit spots vandalized
Concerned about the possible spread of sectarian violence in metro Detroit, Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims are set to meet today in a Dearborn Heights mosque to hash out any tensions between the diverse Middle Eastern and Muslim communities.
As Iraqi-American Shi'ites seethed over the trashing of several of their businesses and mosques in Detroit over the weekend, leaders in the Shi'ite and Sunni sects of Islam worked Tuesday to try to defuse animosity between the two sides that has existed for years but was amplified with the execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in December.
There was some talk of reprisal attacks, but no more incidents were reported Tuesday. Detroit police are investigating the vandalism and are aware that Shi'ite-Sunni tensions may be involved, said Sgt. Eren Stephens, Detroit police spokeswoman. The FBI also is monitoring the situation, said Special Agent Dawn Clenney.
One Sunni leader, Dawud Walid, spent long hours late Monday in a Shi'ite mosque, where he delivered a sermon urging unity.
"It's important that Sunnis and Shi'ites come together," said Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Moments after Hussein was hanged, Shi'ites and others celebrated in a public display in Dearborn that was televised around the world. The execution -- along with the cheering -- upset some local Sunni Muslims. They said it was disrespectful, especially since, for them, it came on the day of Eid-ul-Adha, a holy day.
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Ahhh how wonderful that these "moderate" moslems have brought their religious hate with them, it shall improve the United States immensely...
Let us open up the immigration spigot to moslems even more, because we don't have enough problems as it is and they enrich our societal fabric with the bold and bloody color red.
Pertinent Links:
1) Islamic Group Wants FBI Help
2) Muslims seek peace
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