January 15, 2002

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
 

DETROIT, Jan. 14 - An Arab community leader who has been in custody since Dec. 14 accused of immigration violations is being moved to Chicago from a suburban jail here, a federal official said today.

The man, Rabih Haddad, 41, of Ann Arbor, Mich., is a co-founder of an Islamic charity based in Illinois that federal officials say may have links to terrorist activity.
 

Lou Stock, supervisory deputy United States marshal in Detroit, said he could not comment on the reason for moving Mr. Haddad. Mr. Stock said Mr. Haddad had been transferred from the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the United States Marshals Service, but he said this could be "for any number of reasons."

Mr. Stock referred all questions to the United States attorney's office in Chicago. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for that office, said that no charges had been filed against Mr. Haddad and that he had no further comment.

The same day Mr. Haddad was taken into custody, federal agents raided the suburban Chicago headquarters of the Global Relief Foundation's headquarters in suburban Chicago, the charity Mr. Haddad helped start and on whose board he now serves. The government froze the group's assets.

Mr. Haddad, who has been a member of the group since 1992, is active in civic affairs in Ann Arbor, where his detention has touched off protest. An immigration hearing last week at which he was denied bond attracted nearly 100 supporters.
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/15/national/15DETA.html?ex=1012119289&ei=1&en=935cc1ff3533a813