Washington/Islamabad, Jan 22
The brother of Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Mohammed Sayeed
is among 30 Muslim clergymen who head mosques in the US and have
been asked to leave for violating visa rules.
Imam Muhammad Masood has been asked to leave his residence on the
premises of the Sharon Mosque, headquarters of the Islamic Centre of
New England.
No date has been fixed for his departure. It would be "sometime
soon", The Daily Times quoted attorney George Garfinkle as saying in
a report from Washington.
Apparently keen to curb their activities and see them go as part of
the current policy of the Department of Homeland Security, the US
wants to ensure that correct procedures are followed.
"The government is leaning on them, and they're trying to do the
right thing legally," Garfinkle told the newspaper Patriot Ledger.
Garfinkle also confirmed that some former Islamic Centre board
members had been called before a federal grand jury in Boston,
Massachusetts, over the past month in connection with the
investigation of Imam Masood's alleged visa violations. He did not
identify who was called.
Masood is expected to have a visa hearing within the next few
months. He could be deported at that time, the newspaper said.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement picked up Masood, his son
Hassan and a Chelmsford imam Nov 15 as part of a multi-state sweep
of 33, mostly Pakistani, immigrants.
Most of those in other states were charged with having fraudulent
religious-worker visas.
Masood has led the Sharon mosque since 1998. He and his family have
continued to live on the mosque property since his release on bail,
but he hasn't led prayer services or performed other duties since
then.
His brother Sayeed dissociated himself from LeT after it was banned
in Pakistan. He went on to found Markaz Dawaatul Irshad and Jammatud
Daawa that he insists are not militant but charity groups.
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