MAIL ONLINE: A cab driver has been stabbed in New York after telling his passenger that he was Muslim.
Ahmed H Sharif was slashed in the face and neck after the passenger, 21-year-old Michael Enright, allegedly attacked him.
The attack came as tensions over plans to build a mosque at Ground Zero are threatening to spill over into the streets of New York.
Sharif picked up Enright at about 6pm on Tuesday evening at East 24th Street and Second Avenue, police spokeswoman Deputy Inspector Kim Royster said.
Sharif - who is originally from Bangladesh - told authorities that during the trip Enright asked him whether he's Muslim.
When he said yes, Enright allegedly uttered an Arabic greeting and told Sharif: 'Consider this a checkpoint'.
Enright then pulled out a weapon - believed to be a folding tool with a knife blade called a Leatherman - and attacked Sharif, Royster said.
Sharif was seriously wounded in the neck and suffered cuts to his forearms, his face and one hand while trying to fend off Enright, prosecutor James Zeleta said.
Sharif tried to lock Enright inside the cab and drive to a police station, police said. New York cab driver stabbed after saying he was Muslim as Ground Zero mosque tensions threaten to spill over >>> Mail Foreign Service | Thursday, August 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Campaigners say Ground Zero mosque plans led to taxi murder attempt: Campaigners against plans to build a mosque near the Ground Zero site condemned the project for stoking tensions they claim led to the attempted murder of a Muslim taxi driver. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Donnerstag, August 26, 2010
