This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2661

Cleveland Terrorist Imam Fawaz Damra deported to West Bank arrest by Israel for membership in Palestian Islamic Jihad

January 9, 2007

January 5, 2007 - 12:18PM
DETROIT (AP) - Detroit immigration officials say the former leader of Ohio's largest mosque has been deported to the Palestinian territories.

Imam Fawaz Damra was convicted two and a-half years ago of lying to hide his ties to groups the government considers terrorist organizations.

Earlier, Damra had agreed to be deported to the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. The 46-year-old was the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland.
http://www.wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=33619&template=breakout_state.html

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Deported Ohio Imam arrested in West Bank

Israel is holding the former imam of Ohio's largest mosque, deported last week by the US, the Shin Bet said for the first time Tuesday.

Fawaz Damra, 46, was arrested by the Shin Bet because of his ties to Islamic Jihad, which is classified by Israel and the US as a terror organization, the Shin Bet said Tuesday. No further details were provided.

Damra was deported by American authorities last week because he concealed his ties to Islamic Jihad when he applied for American citizenship in 1994.

Originally from the West Bank city of Nablus, Damra was deported to Jordan last week after being incarcerated in Monroe County, Michigan, for a year while awaiting deportation.

He crossed into the West Bank last Thursday, and his whereabouts had not been disclosed, though his family alleged that he had been arrested by Israel.

The Shin Bet's announcement Tuesday was the first official admission that Israel was holding the cleric.

Islamic Jihad, a small radical group with links to Iran and Syria, has carried out dozens of suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israel.

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MIM: A possible Damra family connection?

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=111488

Wanted Terrorist Damra in Custody
07:45 Sep 06, '06 / 13 Elul 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Wanted terrorist Mahmoud Damra was taken into custody by border police on Tuesday, apprehended at a Birzeit area checkpoint.

Damra was commander of Yasser Arafat's prestigious Presidential Force 17, but he has not held any official post since Arafat's death.

Damra is connected to a number of terror attacks, including the murders of Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev and Talia Kahane, and the shooting death of Eish Kodesh Gilmore in an eastern Jerusalem office of Bituach Leumi.

Damra was turned over to security authorities.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2661