: Seattle Man Arrested for Alleged Al-Qaeda Links

It may not be a surprise that someone like James Ujaama would be detained by federal authorities looking for links to Al-Qaeda. After all, he has set up some admittedly provocative websites in the US and Britain (stopamerica.org, which rails against US foreign policy, and a website advertising a paramilitary training course shut down by British authorities). But Ujaama, an American citizen, African-American convert, and author of four books has had what many colleagues have called a productive and principled history of community service and anti-drug efforts (along with his brother Mustafa, who was also detained briefly). Soon after the arrest, many in his native Seattle community defended him, along with the local chapter of the NAACP. Because he is being held as a material witness, authorities are allowed to keep him in custody indefinitely (thanks to the PATRIOT Act) despite his normally accorded rights as a citizen (his home was also raided for information). The judge in the case also denied the media’s requests to open the hearing. Ujaama’s case provides perhaps the most striking conflict to date between anti-terrorism actions and the denial of rights of a US citizen and almost certainly will increase the pressure on authorities to either charge or release him as civil libertarians continue to raise the issue with the public.

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com.  He is based in London, England.