Rabih Haddad Case Serves as an Example

May 6, 2002

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37210-2002May5.html

On May 6, 2002, The Washington Post reported "In Michigan, Anti-Terrorism Effort Goes Public: Haddad Case Forces Rare Glimpse of Secret U.S. Campaign." The article focuses on the case of Rabih Haddad, taken into custody on December 14, after a raid on the Global Relief Foundation, an Islamic charity he helped establish. "In court papers, U.S. officials have accused him of having contact with groups and individuals associated with the al Qaeda terrorist network. But they have not charged him with a terrorism-related crime, and they have declined to provide details of the allegations to him or to his legal team. ... Haddad's attorneys and supporters, including Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), say he is a gentle man, a Muslim who has worked to bring together people of different faiths. They say he is a victim of an overzealous Justice Department that has targeted innocent Arab and Muslim men since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." The article continued, "The case provides a striking example of the government's controversial, secretive campaign of arrests and detentions since Sept. 11. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and other U.S. officials say the effort is aimed at capturing suspected terrorists and disrupting future attacks, yet none of the hundreds of immigrants detained has been publicly charged with crimes related to terrorism."