No comment. Bruce
<http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1171265.php> http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1171265.php Monday, June 5, 2006 FBI says Muslims at UCI aren't monitored Official meets with community leaders after an agent's remarks raised concern. By CINDY CARCAMO and VIK JOLLY The Orange County Register IRVINE - The FBI and Muslim community leaders met again tonight, one in a series of gatherings since 9/11 intended to gain a better understanding of each other. The latest meeting was needed, Muslim leaders said, because of a report by Register columnist Frank Mickadeit last month in which Pat Rose, head of the FBI's Orange County al-Qaida squad, was quoted as saying her agency was looking for potential terrorists here through a variety of electronic eavesdropping techniques. Rose said the FBI is aware of large numbers of Muslims at UC Irvine and USC. And she said she was "quite surprised" that "there are a lot of individuals of interest right here in Orange County." Stephen Tidwell, assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, told about 100 people gathered at the Islamic Center of Irvine, that "we do not, we cannot, we do not" monitor students at UC Irvine and USC. "We will set aside whether (Rose) was accurate or it was reported accurately or not," he said in his opening remarks. He explained how the FBI investigates tips and how a threat assessment is made and sent to agency headquarters in Washington. "There are rules and guidelines as to how and why . we conduct an investigation," he said. In response to a question about Rose, Tidwell said she is "upset." "I'm dealing with that agent. I've had long talks with that agent. She understands that without regard to what her intent was, it has come to this," Tidwell said. He answered no when asked whether the FBI is monitoring Irvine's Muslim community and said, "We would have to have reasonable cause to do that." Sabiha Khan, spokeswoman for the Council on American Islamic Relations in Anaheim, said the meetings have been helpful. "Thankfully with improved training of the FBI we hear less and less of the questions about what mosque (Muslims) went to or what imam they liked to listen to," Khan said. In an e-mail to the Register after the publication of Rose's comments, the FBI said, in part: "The FBI does not monitor Muslim student groups at UC Irvine, USC or other educational institutions." But Rose's remarks had touched off an uproar. "My primary concern is that we're an integral part of the American landscape and in the peaceful part of the world, especially in Irvine," said Sadullah Khan, director of religious affairs at the Islamic Center of Irvine. "This has just come up and unnecessarily focused on us as a Muslim community." The comments led Muslim leaders to ask for a public forum to air their concerns, and the FBI agreed to meet. Tareef Nashashibi, whose son is a UCI sophomore, said the reaction was strong because UCI and USC students and some Irvine residents appeared to have been singled out. "It was not a general statement anymore," Nashashibi said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get to your groups with one click. Know instantly when new email arrives http://us.click.yahoo.com/.7bhrC/MGxNAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
