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Monteilh used to provoke worshippers to speak about jihad and record their words. (LA Times) |
CAIRO — American Muslims are angry over FBI's sending informants into mosques to spy on worshippers, warning that the move risks sewing mistrust between the sizable minority and security agencies.
"Infiltrating mainstream mosques the way FBI informants infiltrate white supremacist groups illustrates the FBI's perception of American Muslims as a community that must be constantly monitored, instead of being treated as an equal partner in fighting crime and terrorism," the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement cited by the MSNBC website on Friday, February 28.
Craig Monteilh, a California resident, admitted Wednesday that he had been recruited by the FBI from July 2006 to October 2007, to spy on worshippers at several Orange County in South California.
He approached mosques and Islamic centers as a convert enthusiastic to know more about jihad to defend Muslim causes.
Monteilh, who worked for the FBI in late 2003 as an informant on white supremacist and narcotics cases, used to provoke worshippers to speak about jihad and record their words.
"Law-abiding Muslims at mainstream mosques and Islamic centers are being incited and entrapped by former criminals with questionable characters," CAIR said.
Last year, media reports unveiled that FBI agents were monitoring mosques in California's cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.
Since 9/11, Muslims, estimated between six to seven million, have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights, with a prevailing belief that America was targeting their faith.
Counterproductive
The Muslim advocacy group warned that the mosque informants risk to undermine trust between American Muslims and security agencies.
"The use of an informant to infiltrate mosques in Southern California, has re-ignited feelings of anger, disillusionment and mistrust among American Muslims toward the FBI."
CAIR stressed that American Muslims have proved by actions not words that they are committed to keep their country safe.
"The American Muslim community has never waivered from its commitment to keeping America safe, nor has it hesitated from cooperating with various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, in ensuring the security of all US citizens."
In June 2007, CAIR has reported Monteilh to the FBI as a possible terrorist.
It noted that Monteilh had been aggressively pushing mosque frequents to speak out against the US government and join jihad.
The umbrella Muslim group said that Muslims had worked hard to develop a partnership with the FBI in the past years.
"Unfortunately, the FBI's counter-productive actions damage the trust between Muslims and law enforcement and trample our Constitutionally-mandated civil liberties.
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