Showing posts with label Nihad Awad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nihad Awad. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Five American Members of the ‘Religion of Peace’ Arrested in Pakistan

TIMES ONLINE: The FBI is investigating five American Muslim students who are thought to have been arrested in Pakistan yesterday on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks after disappearing from their homes in the US last month.

Pakistani police said they arrested the five men, aged from 18 to their early 20s, in a raid on the house of a member of the banned militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, in the town of Sargodha in the eastern province of Punjab.

The FBI has yet to confirm their nationalities or identities, but Pakistani officials said the men were all US citizens, including three of Pakistani descent, one of Egyptian descent and one of Yemeni descent, and had been staying at the house since November 30.

Their arrest came as David C. Headley, another American citizen, of Pakistani origin, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges in a case that has raised fears about Islamic militant groups' ability to recruit and operate inside the United States.

Muslim leaders in Washington said the five men - all students - had been living with their families in northern Virginia until they disappeared last month, and one had left behind a jihad-style "farewell" video message.

Officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) told reporters that the men's families contacted the organisation after they went missing.

Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, declined to give the men’s names, ages or nationalities, but one of them has been identified as a dental student at Howard University in Washington.

Mr Awad said the families brought along a video that included war images, verses from the Koran and showed one of the five men delivering a "final statement".

"It's like a farewell," he said of the 11-minute, English-language video that one of the families reportedly found in their home. Five US Muslims arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of terror plots >>> Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent | Thursday, December 10, 2009

Thursday, November 06, 2008

American Muslims Quick to Congratulate Obama

REUTERS: WASHINGTON - The largest U.S. Islamic civil rights group was among the first to congratulate President-Elect Democrat Barack Obama, a man who some opponents tried to portray as a Muslim because of the childhood years he spent in Indonesia.

“President-elect Obama’s victory sends the unmistakable message that America is a nation that offers equal opportunity to people of all backgrounds,” the Council on American Islamic Relations said in a statement just minutes after Obama’s victory speech in Chicago.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the group, said they hoped to offer the Obama administration some support and advice.

“We look forward to having the opportunity to work with the Obama administration in protecting the civil rights of all Americans, projecting an accurate image of America in the Muslim world and playing a positive role in securing our nation,” Awad said. >>> Andrea Shalal-Esa | November 5, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>