Department Of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Reinforce Commitment to working with leaders of Muslim, Sikh and
Arab-American Communities
Washington, DC – Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller III recently met with national leaders of Muslim,
Sikh and Arab-American organizations to address issues including hate
crimes and civil rights violations, and to enlist the assistance of
these communities in the current challenges in the war on terror. The
Director’s meeting was his sixth bi-annual meeting since September
2001 focusing on the FBI’s commitment to the Muslim, Sikh and
Arab-American communities.
Recent meetings
focused on Director Mueller’s directive given
to the leaders of the FBI’s 56 field offices to increase contacts
with Muslim, Sikh and Arab-American leaders within their territories
beginning July 9, 2004 and to personally address concerns and issues
in the community during the 2004 threat period. This initiative is
a continuation of a tasking Director Mueller ordered in late 2001 for
each FBI field office to establish contacts with community organizations
and leaders in their territories.
“Credible reporting indicates that al Qaeda is planning a large-scale
attack in America in an effort to disrupt our democratic process. While
we currently lack precise knowledge about when, where and how they
are planning to attack, we are actively working to gain that knowledge.
As part of that effort, we are again reaching out to our partners in
the Muslim and Arab-American communities for any information they may
have. Their assistance has proven valuable in the past, and we continue
to seek their help in this time of enhanced threat,” said Attorney
General John Ashcroft. “In addition, our outreach to those perceived
to be of Muslim, Arab and Sikh descent is part of our strong ongoing
campaign to prosecute bias-motivated attacks. American ideals and values
are not limited by race or religion, and freedom-loving people are
our greatest allies in the war on terrorism. Today, we reaffirm our
commitment to working with and protecting those who love freedom.”
Dr. Maher Hathout
of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) said, “MPAC’s
National Grassroots Campaign to Fight Terrorism and Hate Crimes underscores
the importance of the American Muslim community as part of the solution
in its commitment to protect our country in partnership with law enforcement.” The
Attorney General and Director recognized the importance of MPAC’s
anti-terrorism initiatives, and encouraged similar efforts to educate
the Muslim community about federal counterterrorism efforts.
Manjit Singh,
President of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART)
stated, “The
Justice Department has done a phenomenal job of bringing us together
and they have shown that they recognize that many in the Sikh American
community continue to face hate crimes. We have laid the foundation
for consistent outreach from FBI field offices around the country,
and we look forward to continuing to train new and existing agents
to effectively work with the Sikh American community.”
As Director Mueller
stated in his recent testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, “none
of these successes would have been possible without the extraordinary
efforts of our partners in state and municipal law enforcement and our
counterparts around the world. The Muslim, Iraqi, and Arab-American communities
have also contributed a great deal to our success. On behalf of the FBI,
I would like to thank these communities for their assistance and for
their ongoing commitment to preventing acts of terrorism. All of us understand
that the evolving threats we face today, and those we will face tomorrow,
can only be defeated if we work together.”