An Arizona man at the center of a controversy defended his Islamic fundraising activities and his group's actions on the flight from which they were removed.
A Phoenix imam who was one of six Muslim men removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis on Nov. 20 once worked with two U.S. organizations accused of having links to terrorism.
But Omar Shahin said Friday that he wasn't involved in anti-American activity and no longer is associated with either group.
Also on Friday, US Airways said the men's ejection had nothing to do with their backgrounds and stemmed only from passengers' and crew members' concerns about their behavior.
Questions about Shahin surfaced in July 2005, when author and terrorism investigator Steven Emerson, author of "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S.," mentioned him in testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee investigating the financing of terrorists.
Emerson identified Shahin as a fundraiser for KindHearts, a Toledo-based Muslim charity that has been a subject of federal scrutiny for suspected links to terror-related groups in the Mideast. Emerson also noted Shahin's work as an imam for the Islamic Center of Tucson, which, he said, "has an extensive history of terror links."
Shahin, 45, who said he came to the United States in 1995 and became a U.S. citizen in 2003, said KindHearts engaged him as a fundraiser in 2004-2005 "because they knew I was a good speaker and fundraiser.
"I raised money for schools and Islamic centers" and remained in Phoenix, Shahin said. "If I knew anything about any ties to terrorism, I would have been the first one to report it."
The U.S. Treasury Department froze KindHearts' assets in February during an investigation into whether it gave money to groups affiliated with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has gained power in Palestine and is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. After the asset freeze, Shahin said, he had no contact with KindHearts' leaders.
As for the Tucson Islamic Center, Shahin said he served as an imam there from 2000 to 2003. "I did not meet anyone who had anything to do with terrorists," he said.
Imams, or prayer leaders, are chosen by fellow Muslims and are not ordained clergy.
In 2002, the Washington Post reported one expert's view that a strain of radical Islam at the Tucson center deeply influenced Hani Hanjour, who was in the cockpit when United Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
"All that happened long before I got there," Shahin said.
He said most of his fundraising has been separate from KindHearts and the Tucson center. "I raised money for Sept. 11 victims, for tsunami and Katrina victims, for Pakistani earthquake victims that went to the Red Cross," he said.
Emerson was traveling Friday and unavailable to comment.
Molly Millerwise, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., said that she could not confirm whether the investigation of KindHearts is still underway. A Feb. 19 department news release about the asset freeze did not mention Shahin.
Reasons for ejectionsAndrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways, said the imams' ejection was not the result of concerns about Shahin. Rather, she said, it was based on passenger and crew member concerns about the men's behavior. Among the reports relayed to Capt. John Wood and later documented in a police report were the imams' unusual seating arrangement, the movements one made around the plane, their intense discussions in Arabic, alleged anti-American statements and their request for seat-belt extenders -- potential weapons -- that they did not use.
"If there had been concerns about their backgrounds or if they were on a no-fly list, they never would have been on that plane," Rader said.
The day after the incident, the imams returned to the airport and were denied fresh US Airways tickets in what Rader called "a miscommunication."The agent only had information that they were getting refunds and knew nothing beyond that," she said. "By the time we figured it out and went looking for the men, they had gotten Northwest tickets."
Rader said the airline has "heard rumors" that there may be a lawsuit, but "no papers have been served on us."
Shahin, who said he has traveled more than 60,000 miles on US Airways without problems, said he continues to believe that the removal, which led to the six men being handcuffed on the tarmac, then detained and questioned for five hours, was the result of "prejudice and ignorance."
Conflicting accountsShahin said blog discussions of the Nov. 20 incident have included "falsehoods." For instance, he said, only three of the imams prayed before the flight; their discussions did not include politics, and only two asked for -- and then used -- seat-belt extenders, customarily provided to large passengers.
"Since this incident, not only have I missed my prayers while traveling, but also, if I need to go to the bathroom on the plane I don't even go because people will think things," he said. "It's ridiculous."
Pat Snelson, 58, of Maplewood, who was on the flight with his wife, Rita, said he believes US Airways "did the right thing" in ejecting the imams.
He said that from his aisle seat, he watched as two of the men asked for seat-belt extenders. "One, a skinny Arab guy, just put it under his seat," he said. "The other guy, a bigger guy, I couldn't see what he did with his."
Snelson said the passengers were bewildered and fearful when "armed security people" came on board, first to question the men, then to remove them. The imams "got their stuff and left," he said. "They went out pretty quiet. One guy, his hands were shaking.
"These guys say we're discriminating against them, but I think we were terrorized by these people," Snelson said. "We didn't know what was going on, whether they might have left a bag with a big nasty in it. We were in fear for our lives."
Pamela Miller • 612-673-4290 • pmiller@startribune.com
