Jailed Muslim Sues Over Closed Hearings
A jailed Muslim cleric sued the federal government Thursday, challenging the way closed-door immigration hearings have been held since the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
The suit was filed on behalf of Rabih Haddad, a native of Lebanon who was arrested at his Ann Arbor, Mich., home Dec. 14.
The arrest came on the same day that federal agents, invoking a recently enacted anti-terrorism law, raided the offices and froze the assets of the Global Relief Foundation, a prominent Illinois-based U.S.-Islamic relief group that Haddad co-founded. U.S. officials blame Islamic militant Osama bin Laden for masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks that killed about 3,000 people.
Haddad is a board member of Global Relief Foundation, which sued several news organizations in November, claiming it had been defamed by reports alleging it had links to terrorism.
He has had three secret hearings in immigration court in Detroit since he was detained.
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