State News Release

David McReynolds Deplores Deportation of Ansar Mahmood.

McReynolds for the U.S. Senate Media Release
http://mcreynoldsforsenate.org

August 13, 2004

For More Information: David McReynolds, (646) 942-7118

David McReynolds, the Green Party candidate for United States Senate in New York, today blasted the Bush administration for the deportation of Ansar Mahmood after 31 months in US prison.

"Mahmood was an innocent person caught up in the 9/11 hysteria that has gripped too many Americ n politicians. The US government needs to stop its war against people of the Muslim faith. We have to stop attacking people because of the color of their skin, their national origin, sexual orientation or religious beliefs," stated McReynolds.

Mahmood, a Pakistani citizen in the U.S. legally, was working as a pizza delivery person in Hudson, NY. He was arrested shortly after 9/11 because he asked a security guard to take a picture in front of the local reservoir so that he could send the photo home to his parents, whom he was helping to support. The US government quickly admitted that Mahmood was not a terrorist, but they cited him for illegally allowing other Pakistani citizens to stay in his home. Despite widespread community support for Mahmood, he was deported yesterday.

Last week, McReynolds challenged the government's sting operation that resulted in an arrest of two Muslim religious leaders on money laundering charges in Albany. While Governor Pataki and other officials quickly labeled the individuals as terrorists, the federal government quickly admitted that there is no terrorist plot. The sting operation has resulted in complaints from the Pakistani government which claimed it increased the risk of attack of Pakistani diplomats.

"Why aren't Bush and Pataki focusing on real terrorists, like the people who murdered 3,000 people in NYC on September 11? Where are the terrorists in the U.S. who aided and abetted the hijackers? If they want to target money launders, why aren't they going after the people who financed September 11th, starting with the Pakistani intelligence service and the Saudi ruling family?" asked McReynolds, who worked for the War Resister's League for 39 years. The 9/11 Commission, in its final report, said that it was not important to identify who paid for the estimated $500,000 cost of the 9/11 attack.

Mr. Mahmood was first placed in the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in January 2002 under an order of deportation because of the harsh 1996 Immigration law Mr. Mahmood received Congressional support from seven U.S. Senators and twenty member of the U.S. House of Representatives as well as a majority of the Hudson City Council members. He is one of thirteen September 11 detainees for whom the ACLU submitted a petition to the Office of the United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights protesting the arbitrary detention of Arab and Muslim men following 9/11.

The Greens and David McReynolds are also supporting Imam Warith-Deen Umar. Umar, the lead Muslim chaplain in the New York prison system, has been targeted by Governor Pataki and Senator Schumer following a slanderous article in the Wall St. Journal. Their actions resulted in Umar losing his job with the federal prison system, being barred from the New York State prisons, and the loss of other contracted work that Umar relied on to support his family. Umar is presently suing Schumer and Pataki for slander and libel and is demanding reinstatement of his right to serve Muslim prisoners.

At a local mall in Colonie, security guards recently took two Muslim men into custody because they were praying in the parking lot.