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November 21, 2006
US: Two Boston Mosque Leaders Are Bailed
On Wednesday, November 15, two imams from the Boston area were arrested. Hafiz Aabdul Hannan was leader of the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell in Chelmsford, and Muhammad Masood was leader of the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon. Both of the imams came from Pakistan. Sharon had been in the US for 13 years, and Hannan had gained his visa in 1997.
Police said that their arrests had come as part of a nationwide inquiry into visa fraud, in which 33 people had been arrested. They affirmed that the arrests were not related to homeland security, and that members of other religions had been arrested. Muhammad Masood's 15-year old son Hassan was arrested.
The inquiry had concerned individuals who had arrived in the United States on visas for religious workers, but were subsequently being employed in secular jobs, against the terms of their visas.
The two imams have today been granted bail of $7,500 each, states Associated Press, after six days in custody. They should be released today.
The pair are alleged to be involved with Muhammad Khalil, convicted on September 23, 2004, of getting religious worker visas for immigrants who then worked in lay jobs. Khalil worked out of a basement mosque in Brooklyn, New York, and had been tried after a three-year investigation. His Dar Ehya Essunnah mosque was located beneath a greetings card store. SInce 1993, he had sponsored more than 200 fraudulent applications, charging from $5,000 to $8,000 for each sponsorship. He was said by prosecutors to have made $600,000 from abusing the visa system.
Khalil (pictured) was additionally said by prosecutors to be an admirer of Osama bin Laden and his philosophy of armed jihad. Prosecutors mentioned a tape in which Khalil had praised bin Laden and called upon Muslims to "arm themselves" for "another attack". Khalil had been arrested in February 2003, and his basement mosque was closed down. None of his mosque workers who received religious visas had any religious qualifications.
Hannan's attorney, WIlliam Friedman, said that his client had got his visa with the help of Khalil, and had also worked at the Brooklyn mosque officially for a while, but said the evidence against Hannan was "flimsy".
Masood is charged with not returning to Pakistan for two years, a condition of his religious worker visa. He may now be deported.
His attorney, William Joyce said to the Boston court hearing: "It's absolutely shocking the way he and his family have been treated. It certainly doesn't rise to the level of he and his family being hauled off."
Muslims have written letters and complained about the detention of the two imams.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 21, 2006 7:34 PM
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