U.S. Muslims debate aiding FBI

SAN FRANCISCO, April 6 (UPI) -- Muslim groups in the United States say they are divided over efforts within their communities to relations with the FBI.

A petition organized last month by a coalition of national Muslim groups calls for eliminating joint FBI town halls and similar meetings, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

The petition was organized on behalf of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group.

The FBI has been limiting its contact with CAIR because one of its founders was named an "unindicted co-conspirator" in last year's trial in Texas of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, an FBI source told the Chronicle. Five foundation officials were convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas, listed by the U.S. government as a Palestinian terrorist group.

Others in the Muslim community believe disengagement from the FBI will resolve nothing, said Maha ElGenaidi, president of the California-based Islamic Networks Group.

"Muslims need to reach out and build bridges," ElGenaidi said. "Whose help do Muslims need when hate crimes are being committed against them? They need law enforcement on their side and not against them."