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The Globe & Mail – December 18, 2005
CA: Muslim conference frustrated by airport security
Long Beach, Calif. — Muslim leaders who gathered Saturday to discuss their role in combatting extremism within the Islamic community complained that two scheduled speakers missed the event after being detained at Los Angeles International Airport.
“People are upset,” said Salam Al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which organized the conference. “On one hand the U.S. government is asking us to do more, but on the other they are preventing us from doing our work.”
British citizens Mockbul Ali and Waqqas Khan had arrived on a flight from London at 4 p.m., local time, but only cleared customs after 8 p.m., said Erin Robertson, a spokeswoman for the British Consulate-General in Los Angeles.
Ms. Robertson said it wasn't clear why the men were delayed. Calls to U.S. Customs and Immigration officials late Saturday seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Maher Hathout, founder and senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said Saturday that American Muslims needed to actively define their role in society so other groups, including extremists and media organizations, didn't define it for them.
“The real battle is for the soul of Islam,” Mr. Hathout said. “Islam needs to be reclaimed from extremists, but only Muslims can do that.”
Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose CIA agent wife's cover was allegedly blown by the Bush administration, was among those who spoke at the conference.
Other speakers and panelists included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alina Romanowski, Farhana Khera from the National Association of Muslim Lawyers and James Yee, a former chaplain at Guantanamo Bay who was who was arrested in an espionage probe and later cleared.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051218.wmuslim1217/BNStory/International/
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