Zazi case: How far should FBI go in tracking Muslims? | csmonitor.com

Zazi case: How far should FBI go in tracking Muslims? csmonitor.com

Muslim groups say the surveillance techniques authorized by the Patriot Act and credited with helping nab alleged New York bomb plotter Najibullah Zazi are alienating potential allies against terrorism.
By Michael B. Farrell Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
September 29, 2009

...The extent of surveillance operations within the American Muslim communities is difficult to determine, since much of it involves ongoing investigations. In an attempt to force the FBI into revealing its surveillance guidelines, the group Muslim Advocates recently filed suit in federal court...

In this atmosphere of mystery and growing mistrust, a coalition of Islamic organizations said federal agents were infiltrating mosques in Southern California and using "agent provocateurs to trap unsuspecting Muslim youth."

"The job of the government is not to provoke someone to say something wrong and then arrest them," says Agha Saeed, chairman of the American Muslim Taskforce. "That's almost manufacturing a crime."

"At the end of the day, that does not create more integration, it creates all the opposite the results that government wants," he adds...

"The expiration of the three Patriot Act provisions is an opportunity to reexamine surveillance law and reject sections that waste law enforcement resources by targeting law abiding Americans without any suspicion of criminal activity," said Faiza Ali, community affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in an e-mail. "We perceive that trust between the American Muslim community and the FBI remains an issue, especially given concerns of confidential informants and agent provocateurs in places of worship."