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"Operation
Green Quest" Singles Out Muslims
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| A
Search Campaign By The Custom Services Against Muslim
Organizations |
Reported
By Marwa El-Naggar, IOL Staff
CAIRO,
March 21, (IslamOnline) - The U.S.
Treasury Dept. agencies such as IRS and ATF, as well as some FBI
agents, led by Custom Services, raided several Muslim organizations Wednesday morning,
in Virginia, Georgia, and Washington D.C., a prominent Muslim
American told IslamOnline Thursday.
In
an exclusive interview with IslamOnline, Dr. Mohamed S. Omeish,
President of the Success Foundation, said that several organizations
had been raided, including the Success Foundation, a not-for-profit,
charity foundation set up for educational and humanitarian work. The
Muslim World League offices were also raided, as well as several
Muslim-owned businesses, such as MAR-JAC companies, and Sterling
Management.
"The
raids were all carried out at approximately the same time, for the
element of surprise," he stated.
Omeish
said that although the Custom Services claimed that they were not specifically
singling out Muslims, "everyone who was targeted was Muslim,
and all organizations raided were Muslim."
"I
was a witness to what happened. About 15 FBI agents raided the
Success Foundation offices around 11 a.m.," he said noting that
all the raids were carried out at the same time.
"The
agents burst into the offices, wielding their weapons. They told
everyone to put their hands up and turn around. They conducted body
searches on all the employees, and asked us if we had any weapons on
us. Obviously we did not," he said.
"They
then took everyone's personal information. We then asked them
the reason for the raids and asked to see their warrant. They showed
us the warrant which was issued on March 13, 2002.
"The
agents wanted to interrogate us, but we demanded the presence of
our lawyers, after which they stopped questioning us and told us we
could go home."
"We
refused to leave the offices until they left, which happened around
6 p.m. During this time they refused to let us use the phones,
whether to make calls, or to answer them. They took all the
documents they found in the office, including the computers."
"They
asked us to contact the agent in charge of the interrogations
regarding the raids, dubbed "Operation Green Quest", if we
wanted to help them in any way," Omeish added.
"Evidently
there is a group of people in the [George W.] Bush administration
who would like to see that Muslims are not allowed to help their
fellow Muslims overseas, even if this help was legitimate. The
Success Foundation is a respectable, legitimate charity," he
stated.
When
asked if Muslims could take any action regarding these developments,
he said, "We have to find out more. Why are we a part of this
investigation? Are there going to be any criminal charges against
us?"
"We
have to talk to our lawyers," he added. "We are going to
hold a press conference at noon today to voice our outrage against
what happened, but in order to take any legal action, we will have
to talk to our lawyers."
"Muslims
in America are being consistently targeted by the government. The
Custom Services claimed that they were after any organizations that allegedly
funded 'terrorists', but the organizations they raided were
legitimate charities and businesses," he said.
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