| We needed al-Jazeera to tell us that? |
Leaders of the US Muslim community hope to hurt President George W Bush at the polls next year by attacking his administration's treatment of Arab and Muslim Americans. The heads of four leading US Muslim groups said last weekend that as many as one million of their followers may use next year's presidential elections as a chance to register their dissatisfaction with the Bush administration.
âMuslims are eager to vote in defence of their liberties and in defence of their future,â Nihad Awad, executive director of the council on American-Islamic relations said at the group's annual convention in Chicago. âWe feel that civil liberties have deteriorated in this country,â he added. Many American Muslims feel victimised by policies that allow for the racial profiling of Arab and Muslim men. Under the wide ranging powers of the Patriot Act of 2001, many Arab and Muslim have been detained and deported without the right to legal representation. |