11 January 2006
Israeli authorities who arrested the former imam of Ohio's largest mosque after he was deported from the United States have questioned him about a militant Palestinian group, his attorney was quoted as saying by AP. Smadar Ben-Natan, an Israeli lawyer retained by Fawaz Damra's family to represent him, met with her client for the first time on Wednesday. She said Israeli authorities were interested in any knowledge Damra may have of Islamic Jihad, which Israel and the US classify as a terrorist organization. The small radical group with links to Iran and Syria has carried out suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israel. "He is not charged with anything yet. He's being interrogated," said Ben-Natan, who told Damra's family that he was in good health and was being treated well.
Damra, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus, was deported by American authorities last week because he was convicted of concealing his ties to Islamic Jihad when he applied for US citizenship in 1994. Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet, has confirmed that Damra was arrested because of his ties to Islamic Jihad. It provided no other details. During his trial in 2004, jurors were shown evidence that Damra raised money for the organization, along with footage of a 1991 speech in which he called Jews "the sons of monkeys and pigs." He later apologized for making anti-Semitic statements.
