Muslims to discuss convicted imam and other issues

The theme is 'Preserving Morality and Freedom.'
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Muslims began gathering Friday for an annual convention that focuses on a variety of topics, including the Patriot Act and recent legal cases such as that of imam Fawaz Damra, a mosque leader convicted of hiding terrorist ties.
Damra, leader of Ohio's largest mosque, may speak at the meeting, which organizers say they want to be a positive reflection of the Muslim community.
The Palestinian leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland was convicted June 17 of lying about alleged terrorist ties on his U.S. citizenship application. He had pleaded innocent and is appealing the verdict. The 41-year-old could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and face deportation.
"He's a very small part of it," said Julia Shearson of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Ohio. "Unfortunately, wherever Muslims go, there's controversy. We expect that."
Naeem Baig, the general secretary of convention co-sponsor the New York-based Islamic Circle of North America, said Damra may not speak to a group of imams as planned earlier because of media coverage about his case.
"He's a very wise man and he said, 'I don't want this convention to be taken in a negative direction,"' Baig said.
Messages left Friday at Damra's mosque were not immediately returned.
Theme
Baig said the meeting's theme is "Preserving Morality and Freedom." Besides the legal discussions, sessions are scheduled to discuss such things as the presidential election, parenting, marriage, faith and working to stamp out racism.
"The Muslim community has suffered a lot after 9/11," he said, adding that some Muslims feel unfairly targeted by authorities looking for terrorists. "Is freedom limited to certain individuals of a certain color or a certain race or a certain ethnicity?"
The Muslim American Society, an advocacy group based in Virginia, is the other co-sponsor.
The scene
As the conference opened Friday, hundreds kneeled down in prayer on the grass outside the downtown convention center, where more than 7,000 Muslims gathered for the convention in 2001.
Cleveland Imam F. Qasim Khan, the first black Muslim to co-chair the event during its 29-year history, said a goal is to fight stereotypes about Islam and terrorism.
"The reality is the overwhelming majority of Muslims and the overwhelming majority of Christians and the overwhelming majority of any God-conscious people are good people who really don't want problems, they really want world peace," Khan said.
Khan said Damra was not a scheduled speaker because organizers had a full program of presenters, including two Muslim men who were cleared of terrorist accusations.
Speaker Portland, Ore., lawyer Brandon Mayfield was jailed for two weeks in connection with the terrorist bombing of Spanish commuter trains. He was exonerated after fingerprints from the blasts thought to be his turned out to be those of an Algerian, and the FBI apologized to Mayfield, who's set to speak today.
Also scheduled to speak today is James Yee, a Muslim Army chaplain who spent 76 days in prison during an espionage probe at the U.S. military's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. All charges against him were ultimately dropped.
Others scheduled to speak include Iqbal Unus, a director at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Va., which has trained some Muslim chaplains for the U.S. military. The U.S. Customs Service raided Unus' home and the school in March 2002 as part of an investigation into money being funneled to Al-Qaida and other militant Islamic groups. No charges were filed.