Date Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

WASHINGTON, DC - Nov. 28, 2006 (MASNET) The Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation today lodged a complaint with and requested an investigation from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department concerning the removal and detention of six Muslim Imams traveling on US Airways Flight 300 on Monday, November 20th, from Minneapolis, MN to Phoenix, AZ.

The complaint and investigation request are in response to US Airways' removal of Imam Omar Shahin and five other Imams traveling from a conference of religious leaders in Minnesota. Three of the Imams were observed praying prior to departure. Subsequent to boarding the plane, the six were removed from the flight, handcuffed, and detained in the airport for questioning for over five hours. Upon release, US Airways and other airlines refused to allow them to purchase tickets for other scheduled flights to Phoenix.

While the Imams are receiving excellent legal support from other organizations, MAS Freedom Foundation, along with the NAACP and other prominent interfaith leaders, is now focusing on policy and legislative issues related to religious profiling while traveling. We feel strongly that by instituting clear and fair legislative and administrative standards for security screening, Muslims, and all passengers regardless of race or religion, will be protected from arbitrary airport security decisions which might reflect religious or racial bias.

For photos of the "pray-in" Click Here

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your support of MAS Freedom Foundation initiatives is crucial to its continued efforts on behalf of the Muslim American community.  Please donate generously by mailing your contributions made payable to "MAS Freedom Foundation" at the address below. 

Thank you for your support.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The Freedom Foundation is the public affairs arm of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a national grassroots religious, social, and educational organization. MAS is America's largest grassroots Muslim organization with over 50 chapters nationwide. Learn more at www.masnet.org.

-------------------------------------------------------------

MAS Freedom Foundation

1050 17th Street NW, Suite 600

Washington, DC 20036

Tel: (202) 496-1288

Fax: (202) 463-0686

URL: http://www.masnet.org/index_publicaffairs.asp

Email: MAS4Freedom@aol.com