Local Muslims concerned about police interviews

Dan Kulin

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 10:57 a.m.

Kausar Chowdhry said just as it is human nature to assume that if the police are at someone's house there must be something wrong there, so the local Muslim community will be cast in a negative light by law enforcement interviewing local Muslims for information about possible terrorist attacks.

While most interviewed Sunday at a Las Vegas mosque shared Chowdry's displeasure with the FBI's plan to begin interviewing some local Muslims, a few said they have no problem with the FBI's plans if it will make others feel safer.

"As long as they explain the purpose and reason for it, they can go on a fishing expedition. They have to do their job," Dr. Mohammed Shafi said about law enforcement.

FBI agents have said they will begin interviewing members of the local Muslim community today to try to gather information about possible terrorist attacks linked to November's election.

The initiative, part of a nationwide effort called "2004 Threat," is in response to intelligence gathered earlier this year indicating that al-Qaida may want to strike this fall, Special Agent David Schrom, a spokesman for the Las Vegas FBI office, said. He added that the FBI will not be taking people into custody to be interviewed and people will not be forced to talk to agents.

Shafi and others attending the third and final day of lectures of the Second Annual Quran Conference held at UNLV and the Jamia Masjid mosque on East Desert Inn Road all condemned terrorists and said Islam is a peaceful religion that unfortunately has been tarred by some claiming to Muslims.

They also said that as Americans they would go to the police or FBI if they knew of any terrorists or suspicious people, and so they don't need law enforcement coming to them with questions.

"We have nothing to hide and definitely would cooperate with them" Omar Sharif said.

Sharif, 30, marketing manger for the Stratosphere, said the situation could be seen as "like the police going to someone's house to talk about a car that was stolen. Just that action itself makes them look less credible."

Chowdhry, 52, said it "just sends the wrong message."

Aslam Abdullah, director of the Islamic Society of Nevada, said the FBI's plan to interview Muslims about terrorists tells others that "this is a community that needs to be watched. That when you go by their mosques be careful."

Abdullah said the message unfairly tars all Muslims.

"Osama Bin Laden was a millionaire," Abdullah said. "Should they go and talk to all the millionaires?

"Why would they assume that Muslims know about terrorists and why would they think Muslims would not tell them if they did? Why do they think we're less patriotic, less American?"

Abdullah said interviewing area Muslims would be a waste of time because they, like other citizens, would go to law enforcement if they knew of any terrorists.

Abdullah and others noted the good relationship they have with Clark County Sheriff Bill Young, who has visited the mosque several times in recent months.

Last week Young said there was no evidence of a credible threat to Las Vegas, but he anticipated a shift in terror alert from yellow to the higher orange level as the Nov. 2 election and the New Year's and Christmas holidays approach.

Robert Schwartz, a 33-year-old security specialist who converted to Islam nine years ago, said that while it seems like the FBI is targeting only one segment of the population, he said he doesn't know of a better way for the authorities to cast such a large net in their search for any useful information.

Shafi, 41, said "if you have nothing to hide you should not be afraid to talk."

Dr. Hisham Hito, 69, who was born in Syria, agreed with Shafi but emphasized that the tone used by the FBI would be very important.

"They have the full right to do their duty," he said, "but always you are innocent until proven guilty.

"We run from our country for freedom. And we want America to be safe."