Source: International Herald Tribune
Wire Service: AP
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/06/america/NA-POL-US-Elections-McCain-Arab-Leader.php
A group of Arab-American and Muslim leaders said Monday they want John McCain's campaign to apologize for cutting ties with an Lebanese-American businessman serving on the Republican presidential candidate's Michigan finance committee.
Ali Jawad, founder of the Lebanese American Heritage Club, was listed with five other finance committee members on an invitation to a $2,300-per-person (€1,490) fundraising dinner McCain plans to attend Tuesday in Oakland County.
Jawad and his supporters said during a news conference that he was asked to resign from the committee after Michigan blogger Debbie Schlussel wrote that he had ties to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. They said her comments they said were based on rumor and innuendo.
"We do not want a president who makes a decision ... based on false information," said Osama Siblani, president of the Arab American Political Action Committee and publisher of the Arab American News. "This is an insult to every Arab-American and Muslim-American in the country."