Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Huh?

(CBS) ANAHEIM, Calif. An Orange County Islamic group called on the FBI Tuesday to speed up a probe of a Muslim convert banned from an Irvine mosque, where members allege he preferred to discuss jihad rather than Islam.

Craig Monteilh, who started calling himself Farouk Monteilh in September when he began studying at the Islamic Center of Irvine, was served with a restraining order Friday based on allegations made by members of the mosque.

While the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Anaheim commended local Muslims for reporting Monteilh, it urged FBI agents to finish their probe to protect those who "courageously" stepped forward to make their reports.

Since the reports surfaced about a month ago, CAIR-LA said it has gotten complaints that Monteilh had tried to intimidate and threaten those who reported him.

The FBI does not comment on current investigations. According to CAIR, the FBI had not interviewed Monteilh as of last week.

CAIR-LA expressed concern that allowing threats or intimidation to go unchallenged might discourage people from reporting suspicious terror-related activities.

Monteilh could not be reached for comment.

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