Thread: All eyes on metro Hizballah presence

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... /1007/NEWS

All eyes on metro Hizballah presence
Federal agents focus surveillance
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

August 3, 2006




Three young women join hundreds of other Arab Americans on Tuesday in Dearborn to protest Israeli military action against Hizballah militants in Lebanon and the deaths of civilians in an attack on Qana, Lebanon. Federal agents are watching the Hizballah presence in metro Detroit amid the conflict in the Mideast. (BILL PUGLIANO/Getty Images-Agence France-Presse)

With Hizballah in its biggest fight in years, federal agents said this week they're keeping close tabs on its presence in metro Detroit, where support for the militant, Lebanon-based group runs high among some Muslims and Arab Americans and there are concerns terrorist cells could be activated.

Eric Straus, chief of the counterterrorism unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit, said Wednesday that FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities are monitoring "the effect of world events" on Hizballah activity in southeastern Michigan.

Other officials noted federal agents are monitoring the potential for violence in other cities, but did not cite specific ones.

In metro Detroit -- home to the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States -- the FBI has renewed contact with informants, held private meetings with Arab-American and Muslim leaders, and voiced concern about public support shown for Hizballah at rallies in Dearborn.

But there is no evidence of any immediate threat, they added.

"Our office's No. 1 priority is preventing another terrorist attack," Straus said. "We will continue to use whatever lawful tools we have available to disrupt any financial or material support of Hizballah originating in this district."

Law enforcement officials also have alerted local leaders in the Jewish community about potential security threats at synagogues -- a threat intensified by the shooting death of a woman at a Jewish community center in Seattle last week by a Muslim American.

"We have to keep our eyes and ears open because of the war with Israel. ... These are trying times, and we should be careful," said Betsy Kellman, Michigan director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Talk of surveillance is a sensitive topic among Muslims and Arab Americans in metro Detroit, especially given that -- in the past -- federal officials are believed to have intercepted international phone calls without court orders and monitored homes and mosques for radiation that might suggest nuclear material inside.

A federal judge in Detroit is considering an American Civil Liberties Union claim that the National Security Agency's domestic spying program has gone too far.

"There's a lot of tension and stress that the community is going through right now," said Nabih Ayad, a Dearborn attorney involved in the case. "They're worried the government might indiscriminately start pointing fingers at people in the community."

In the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the FBI conducted mass interviews of Arab Americans. But there are no plans for that type of measure to be taken now, according to Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Hamad cochairs a committee that works on relations between federal law enforcement officials and Arab Americans in Michigan. He attended a meeting last Friday where 10 Arab-American and Muslim leaders met with the head of the FBI office in Detroit, Special Agent in Charge Dan Roberts, and Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Michigan and Ohio, among other federal officials.

People who attended the meeting said talk ranged from sleeper cells to FBI concerns about terrorist activity.

Federal agents would not comment on how they are monitoring Hizballah's presence in Michigan or whether it has been stepped up in any particular way. But in recent months, Justice Department officials have spoken out about their concerns that Hizballah has ties to metro Detroit.

Prosecutors charged Talal Chahine -- the owner of the popular La Shish chain of restaurants -- with tax evasion. But they also linked him to Hizballah in court records. In a photograph, he is shown sitting next to a Shi'ite Muslim cleric tied to the militant group at a fund-raiser in Lebanon.

Federal investigators in metro Detroit have increasingly targeted residents tied to the organization. But some Muslims say Hizballah is a heroic group that fought Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, where thousands of Michiganders trace their ancestral roots.

According to a Free Press review of court records, prosecutors have tried to link at least 29 men in Michigan and Windsor, including Chahine, to Hizballah.

But Osama Siblani, of the Dearborn-based Congress of Arab American Organizations, said he doesn't think federal pressure will shake support for Hizballah.

"Who should they chant for? George Bush, the one who's sending Israel bombs to kill their relatives, to kill more people?" Siblani said. "If they want to prosecute us, prosecute us. Let them get their buses, line them up and haul us out."

According to the U.S. government, Hizballah has killed more Americans than any terrorist group except for Al Qaeda. Roberts, the head of Detroit's FBI office, has said he believes there may be Hizballah cells operating in the region.

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko, who is based in Washington, D.C., said the agency also is concerned about "lone-wolf terrorists" who may be inspired by Hizballah or other Islamic groups.

The worry is that as the Mideast fighting continues, Hizballah may lash out elsewhere. In recent days, Hizballah's leader, Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has hinted at worldwide attacks.

"If Israel begins to threaten Hizballah's capabilities there, and certainly, if harm comes to Hassan Nasrallah, then at that point, Hizballah may consider attacking outside the region," said Christopher Hamilton, a former FBI agent and supervisor who helped monitor terrorist groups. He is now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"I think their primary targets will be Israeli/Jewish targets."

Nasrallah may not attack for now, but Hamilton said "that doesn't mean a sympathetic Shi'ite guy in Detroit may not take it upon himself to do it," just as terrorists inspired by Al Qaeda have acted in London and Madrid.

Of particular concern is the fact that Hizballah is thought to have targeted Jewish and Israeli centers in Argentina in 1992 and 1994, killing more than 100 people.

Federal agents in Detroit stress that they have no evidence of any specific or immediate Hizballah threats. But they say they are concerned about some of the rhetoric heard in Dearborn lately. At a couple of rallies, demonstrators held portraits of Nasrallah, chanting his name and Hizballah.

"We find any support for murderous terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda or Hizballah very disappointing, if not disturbing," Straus said.

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at 248-351-2998 or nwarikoo@freepress.com.

Three young women join hundreds of other Arab Americans on Tuesday in Dearborn to protest Israeli military action against Hizballah militants in Lebanon and the deaths of civilians in an attack on Qana, Lebanon. Federal agents are watching the Hizballah presence in metro Detroit amid the conflict in the Mideast. (BILL PUGLIANO/Getty Images-Agence France-Presse)

How about this, you go back to your own country to protest Isreali action and wave your stupid Hezballah flag there.
Be grateful you're in America because you wouldn't be able to protest anything over there.

http://www.chicagotribune.com

FBI monitors Detroit area for activity related to Hezbollah

Associated Press

August 3, 2006, 7:02 AM CDT

DETROIT -- Federal agents are keeping close tabs on activity related to Hezbollah in the area amid weeks of Middle East fighting, but officials said there is no evidence of any specific or immediate threats.

Eric Straus, chief of the counterterrorism unit at the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit, said Wednesday that law enforcement authorities including the FBI are monitoring the effect of world events on such activity.

"Our office's No. 1 priority is preventing another terrorist attack," Straus told the Detroit Free Press. "We will continue to use whatever lawful tools we have available to disrupt any financial or material support of Hezbollah originating in this district."

The FBI has renewed contacts with informants, held private meetings with Arab-American and Muslim leaders and voiced concern about public support shown for Hezbollah at rallies in Dearborn, the newspaper said.

At some rallies, demonstrators held portraits of Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, chanting his name and Hezbollah, the newspaper said. Law enforcement officials also have alerted local leaders in the Jewish community about potential security threats at synagogues.

"We find any support for murderous terrorist organizations like al-Qaida or Hezbollah very disappointing, if not disturbing," Straus said.

But Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News of Dearborn and spokesman for the Council of Arab American Organizations, said he doesn't think federal pressure will shake support for Hezbollah.

"Who should they chant for? George Bush, the one who's sending Israel bombs to kill their relatives, to kill more people?" Siblani said. "If they want to prosecute us, prosecute us. Let them get their buses, line them up and haul us out."

About 300,000 southeastern Michigan residents have roots in the Arab world, among them thousands with close relatives in Lebanon. About 72,000 Jews live in the area, mainly descendants of immigrants from Eastern Europe.

Federal prosecutors in Detroit have brought several cases in recent years against people accused of conspiring to raise money for Hezbollah, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist group.

Three weeks into the conflict, six Israeli brigades -- or roughly 10,000 troops -- were locked in fighting with hundreds of Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, and the battle looked likely to be bitter and long.