US mosque where Fort Dix terror plot suspects prayed defends teachings
The Associated Press Friday, May 18, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/18/america/NA-GEN-US-Fort-Dix-Plot-Mo sque.php PALMYRA, New Jersey: Authorities maintain that at least five of the six men charged in the Fort Dix terror plot planned to kill in the name of God. But the mosque where they worshipped says it only taught them about peace. The Islamic Center of South Jersey, and many other Muslim institutions in the state, are trying to convince people that their religious teachings did not play a role in an alleged plot to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix. The mosque has planned a meeting Friday evening for political, law enforcement and community leaders to ask questions about Islam. Three of the six men charged - Dritan "Anthony" Duka, 28, and his brothers Shain, 26, and Eljvir, 23 - worshipped at the mosque regularly. Eljvir Duka's brother-in-law, 22-year-old Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, also prayed at the Palmyra mosque occasionally. The three Duka brothers, Shnewer, and Serdar Tatar face life in prison if they are convicted of conspiring to kill military personnel; the sixth man, Agron Abdullahu, faces a weapons charge. Ismail Badat, the chairman of the board of trustees for the mosque, maintains that if the young men were talking up extremist views, they were not doing it at the Islamic Center. "The mosques follow the true meaning of Islam, which is the Quran," Badat said. "We have no other ideology in the mosques. When they have that, that's when the trouble starts." Palmyra Mayor John Gural said he would attend. "I just want to be assured that the people who attend services at the mosque - that there are no more people at the mosque like the people who were arrested," he said. It is a message that many in New Jersey are trying to convey as the terror plot case spawns further recriminations against Muslims. The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations held a news conference Friday morning to publicize the case of a Muslim woman from Passaic County who was on her way to do laundry last weekend in Little Falls when a male motorist stuck in traffic started screaming anti-Muslim slurs at her. "We believe this incident may have been precipitated by the alleged Fort Dix plot," said Afsheen Shamsi, a spokeswoman for the group. "We hope our fellow citizens won't equate Islam with terrorism based on the actions of the defendants." She also called on federal authorities to open a civil rights investigation of the incident. At the Islamic Center, the 65-year-old Badat considers his life as a Muslim far removed from the extremism that some of the members of his mosque have been accused of. "We all know that Islam means peace," Badat said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- 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: osint@yahoogroups.com 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/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
