Sting underscores Muslims' complex relationship with FBI

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Sting underscores Muslims' complex relationship with FBI
By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2010; 6:57 PM

A sting operation over the course of months. Federal agents posing as al-Qaeda operatives. The text of the sacred Koran used to send coded messages.

When federal authorities arrested Farooque Ahmed, a 34-year-old Pakistani American, this week for an alleged plot to bomb Metrorail stations in Northern Virginia, Muslim groups in the area struggled with what to say publicly. Should they condemn the man unequivocally and praise law enforcement? Orshould they wait?

As details of the arrest trickled out, many in the Muslim community avoided saying anything to outsiders, but instead quietly voiced concerns to one another about the tactics used.

The ambivalence highlights the complicated and often fraught relationship between law enforcement and Muslim Americans - an alliance some say has suffered especially in the last year with the slew of sting-like operations within their communities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102806320.html?hpid=topnews

[meegbear]

1. I wish Sting would stay out of it

[CJCRANE]

2. The moral of the story is...

don't get involved with someone who says he's from Al-Qaeda. Seems simple enough.