From the New York Times, December 31, 1999:
  "Raid leaves a community stunned, and on edge," by David Barstow

 For the full story, please see
 www.nytimes.com/99/12/31/news/national/regional/ny-raid-terror.html

 "Police officers are a familiar presence to the people who live and work in
 the Midwood section of Brooklyn, a bustling, largely Pakistani enclave that
 has struggled over the last decade to cut crime and revive a fraying
 neighborhood.

 "But those who caught sight of the swarming F.B.I. agents yesterday morning
 understood instantly that something out of the ordinary was about to occur.

 " 'It was total chaos,' said Joe VanDusky Jr., who works in an electronics
 store.

 "By the dozens, the agents emerged quickly and silently from a caravan of
 unmarked cars that pulled to a stop at dawn on a quiet stretch of East
 Eighth Street. Many were dressed entirely in black, from their pullover face
 masks to their body armor. They carried protective shields, battering rams,
 assault weapons. Some led police dogs.

 "They made their way down side streets toward their target, a three-story
 building at the corner of Newkirk and Coney Island Avenues, and then raced
 inside -- some through the main entry and others up a fire escape -- until
 they were crowded into a narrow second-floor hallway outside apartment No.
 1. Smashing the door open, they burst inside screaming.
 " 'It was 10 minutes of wrestling,' recalled Sebastian Pinochet, 19, who
 lives in the next-door apartment.

 "As word spread that the agents had come looking for associates of a
 suspected Algerian terrorist, the neighborhood reacted with two distinct
 strains of fear: one of terrorism itself, the other of being unfairly
 stigmatized by law enforcement agencies and the news media.

 " 'Of course, I'm nervous,' said Ahmad Khaid, who works in a grocery across
 the street from the apartment building. 'I never saw anything wrong,' he
 said of the men who lived in the raided apartment. 'They were customers and
 they seemed like good people. I hope that it's not true. Things like this
 give Islam a bad name.'

 "Agents announced the arrest of one tenant, whom they identified as Abdel
 Ghani, a 31-year-old Algerian, who they said had traveled to Seattle this
 month to meet Ahmed Ressam, the man charged with trying to smuggle
 explosives and timing devices across the Canadian border. A second man who
 was in the Brooklyn apartment was being held by immigration authorities. Two
 others were released, and one of the two returned to the apartment late
 yesterday afternoon.

 " . . . With the police cordoning off an entire block yesterday as F.B.I.
 evidence technicians completed a methodical search of the apartment, several
 residents said they were worried that law enforcement officials were
 unfairly singling out their neighborhood for terrorists because of its large
 Muslim population.

 ". . . And Mahmudur Rahman, 18, said he and his friends were stopped and
 detained by F.B.I. agents yesterday morning as they drove up Coney Island
 Avenue. The agents
 apparently were alarmed by the license plates on Mr. Rahman's van, from
 Ontario, Canada.

 "The authorities have been searching in Canada for possible accomplices, but
 Mr. Rahman offered a simple explanation for the plates. He said he is a
 student from Toronto visiting family in Brooklyn.

 " 'They had their guns drawn,' Mr. Rahman said, clearly shaken by the
 experience.

 " 'They told everyone to come out of the car, they detained us for about an
 hour and a half. They searched the van, and looked through our wallets. They
 thought we could be suspects.

 " 'I never expected something like this to happen here.'

 "Mr. Rahman said he and his friends were released. Tariq Khother, another
 resident, said he had noticed helicopters circling the area for several
 nights. 'Three straight nights, we cannot sleep and our children cannot
 sleep," said Mr. Khother, a native of Pakistan. 'They're watching anyone who
 is Muslim. They're treating us like animals.'"
 \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
 THE AMERICAN MUSLIM COUNCIL
 1212 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW, SUITE 400
 WASHINGTON, DC 20005
 PHONE  : (202) 789-2262
 FAX    : (202) 789-2550
 E-MAIL : [log in to unmask] >>

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