FBI Probing Alleged U.S. Islamic Leader
Wednesday August 24, 2005 3:01 PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The FBI has launched an inquiry into the activities of a grocery store owner who is allegedly the U.S. leader of a radical Islamic group banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East, authorities said.
Iyad Hilal, an Islamic author and philosopher who owns an Orange County market, hasn't drawn much attention to his writings or his role in the group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, which means Party of Liberation.
But since the July 7 bombings in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has suggested banning the group there.
Hilal is apparently not suspected of any terrorist acts, but FBI terrorism investigators want to know more about his and the group's activities.
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