Jamaat al-Muslimeen International Press Release

News from Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman (SOAR)
Minister Farrakhan:" I want to Meet Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman"

Historic Point in the Struggle to Free the Shaikh

The Nation of Islam (NOI) has sent a letter dictated by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan expressing his concern for the suffering of Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman, spiritual guide of Egypt's mass Islamic movement Gamaa' al-Islamiyya.

Minister Farrakhan makes the following points:
1. He wants to meet Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman "to know all the facts concerning his conviction."
2. As a Muslim, he feels that "he has the right to hear the actual facts from Shaikh Rahman's lips."
3. He has "an obligation" to listen to the Shaikh's "cry for justice."
4. The purpose is "to fight for him."

The historic letter, sent to Dr. Kaukab Siddique, Ameer of Jamaat al-Muslimeen, is being distributed by reuters and Muslim egroups in Egypt and the Middle East.

WHY IS THE LETTER HISTORIC?
1. No other leader of the 7 million Muslims of America has come out openly to show concern for the suffering of Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman.
2. Shaikh Omar is sealed up in solitary confinement in a cell in Rochester, Minnesota. A SPECIAL ORDER has been issued by the Clinton administration, sealing off the Shaikh from all outside contacts. The order explicitly states that even meetings with attorneys, once in three months, will be strictly monitored, and will be terminated if any conversation outside the listed parameters is heard.
3. Minister Farrakhan's message implies badly needed unity between immigrant and African-American Muslims.
4. The major media have maintained an ugly silence about the mistreatment of the Shaikh in prison.
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Minister Farrakhan had expressed his wish to meet Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman during formal meetings with Dr. Kaukab Siddique. Recently when the Minister Farrakhan visited Lincoln University, Dr. Siddique reminded him of the Shaikh's suffering and the need to break the ice the zionist media have frozen over the case.
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Minister Farrakhan's stature as a national leader can be guaged from the facts of his visit to Lincoln University. Almost the entire student body was there, inspite of rejection of the visit by the Board of Trustees, along with hundreds of people from nearby states. As Minister Farrakhan entered the gymnasium where the meeting was held, the whole crowd got up and chanted:
"Farrakhan, Farrakhan" while the Muslims there shouted: "Allahu Akbar"
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The Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman (SOAR) has the following basic members:

1. Abdeen Jabara (New York City) Legal Advisor
2. Ahmed 'Abdel Sattar (Staten Island) Paralegal
3. Nabeel El-Masry (New Jersey) Paralegal, translator and close associate of the Shaikh.
4. Sis. Uzema Khan (Glen Ellyn IL)
5. Ather Masood (Chicago IL)
6. Richard A Hudlin Jr. (Omaha NE)
7. Mustafa Ali (San Antonio TX)
8. Imam Badi Ali (Greensboro NC)
9. Shaikh Abdus Sattar al-Dahir (New Orleans LA)
10. Imam Salahuddin Abdullah (Denver CO)

Dr. Kaukab Siddique is the Convenor. The Committee was founded by Sis. Nadrat Siddique
For literature on the Shaikh plus tapes send a donation to: Jamaat al-Muslimeen, P.O. Box 10881, Baltimore, MD 21234, USA
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2000-04-30 Sun 09:28ct