Bloodshed breeds bloodshed Bob Harvey, David Stonehouse and Christopher Guly of the Ottawa Citizen [a newspaper in Ottawa, Canada] interviewed 12 Imams across Canada about the war in Afghanistan with regards to bin Laden's supposed role in the terrorist attack which was executed in the the U.S. on Sept. 11. These journalist's questions also involved the Canadian government’s anti-terrorism bill. The following excerpt is from that article which was entitled "Imams question focus on bin Laden ~ Only 2 of 12 Muslim leaders believe U.S. has proved its case." Nov. 10, 2001.
. . . All but 2 imams said either that Mr. bin Laden, the chief suspect in the attacks, does not have the expertise necessary to plan the terrorist activities, or that the United States has not yet provided convincing evidence of his guilt. . . .Syed Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims and imam of a group that meets at the Mississauga Valley Community Centre:
Imam Ali is a retired lawyer, formerly with the Ontario provincial government, and does not believe Osama bin Laden is responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. He says the kind of evidence against Mr. bin Laden that has been presented by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and others, “is not the kind of evidence needed to convict in a court of law. In fairness to the Taliban government, they said show us what kind of evidence you have, and the Americans said ‘we’re not going to give it to you.’ Maybe if they (the Americans) gave the evidence, the Taliban would hand him over.”
He says that by taking the side of Israel, the United States “is punishing the population of Palestine. Whenever Islamic issues come up, they are the very last priority on the agenda of the United States. Grievances have been piling up and piling up, and there is nothing else left for them (Palestinians). They don’t have armaments to go against a big power.
When people are deprived of their basic rights, and their notion of justice and equality, they will use illegal and immoral means.
You're not likely to see this item or this item from Amnesty International
in the popular press (we didn't).