CAIR-FL Trains FBI Agents on Islam and Muslims

12/1/2004 2:22:00 PM

To: State Desk

Contact: Ahmed Bedier of CAIR-FL, 813-731-9506 or abedier [at] cair-florida.org; additional contacts listed below

MIAMI, Dec. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today held a diversity training workshop on Islam and the American Muslim community at the FBI's Jacksonville Division All Employee Conference.

More than 150 law enforcement agents, including FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force supervisory personnel, attended the workshop that examined basic Islamic beliefs and concepts, common stereotypes of Islam and Muslims and ways in which to improve interactions with the Muslim community. Agents were able to ask questions throughout the two-hour CAIR-FL presentation.

"This type of positive interaction between law enforcement officials and the Muslim community helps break down barriers to communication and promotes mutual understanding," said CAIR-FL Chairman Parvez Ahmed.

Ahmed said CAIR-FL hopes that it will continue to expand the program to help train law enforcement authorities in other parts of the state, just as it did today in Jacksonville and earlier in Miami. CAIR offices in other states have offered similar training programs.

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 29 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada.

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CONTACT: Ahmed Bedier, 813-731-9506, abedier@cair- florida.org; Altaf Ali, 954-298-8214, altaf [at] cair-florida.org; Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper [at] cair-net.org

NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a journalist's window to the American Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called ISLAM-INFONET, receive news releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on issues of importance to our society.

To SUBSCRIBE to ISLAM-INFONET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/islam-infonet/

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/© 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/