Please see my previous related posts here, here, here and here.

The flying imams: What didn't happen
Scott Johnson

Audrey Hudson follows up her two Washington Times stories on the flying imams with an interview of ringleader Omar Shahin: "Imam disputes ties to Hamas." It's an oddly muted interview by contrast, for example, with this AP report. Shahin does not claim that the imams were mistreated by authorities. No handcuffs. No barking dogs. He speaks up for US Airways: "We love US Airways, and we want to fly with them," he said, which I'm sure is a great comfort to all involved.

Shahin denies knowing that the KindHearts charity he supported was a Hamas front. Although KindHearts was established as a successor to the Global Relief Foundation shuttered by the feds after 9/11, he asserts that his involvement with the charity was an innocent mistake. Is he to be believed?

Hudson apparently didn't inquire about the seat belt extenders for which two or three of the imams asked. Shahin was in fact reportedly one of the imams who received a seat belt extender despite the fact that he has no apparent need for one.

On the question of Shahin's credibility, Hudson's article saves the best for last:

Mr. Shahin says that after they were questioned and released, US Airways declined to sell them another plane ticket, even after an FBI agent intervened at the imam's request. "I told him, 'Please sir, to call them.' And he did and talked for more than 20 minutes. He was trying to tell them we have no problem with the government and we can fly with anybody, but they still refused. He told me, 'I'm sorry I did my best.' I really appreciated it."

Paul McCabe, FBI spokesman in Minneapolis, says no such call took place on behalf of the men. "That never happened," Mr. McCabe said.

But where did all those reports of imams in handcuffs come from? The answer to that question also belies Shahin's credibility,  ...

***

PJM exclusive: The flying imams police report
Michelle Malkin

I had lunch with Pajamas Media Washington editor Rich Miniter today and got a sneak peek at the exclusive now up at PJM: the full official police report of the flying imams incident and handwritten witness statements.

Check it out.

Rich reports: ...

***

THE FAKING IMAMS -- Pajamas Media Exclusive: Police Report, Passenger Reveals That Flying Imams Were Up to No Good

The Now Notorious Flying Imams Claim Their Only Crime Was “Flying While Muslim,” But Our Exclusive Reporting Reveals They Are Trying to Sweep Their Real Motives Under Their Prayer Rugs

SEE ALSO: The first public publication of the official police report on the incident including handwritten statements from witnesses. Download file — PDF 3.8 Mgb

PLUS: The letter from US Airways passenger “Pauline” to U.S. Airways: Download file PDF 68K

[Bloggers are invited to examine these documents and provide theories for what happened. Please notify Pajamas Media. — Editors]

By Richard Miniter, PJM Washington Editor

The case of U.S. Airways flight 300 gets stranger by the minute. When six traveling Muslim clerics were asked to deplane last week, it looked like another civil rights controversy against post-9-11 airport security.

Now new information is emerging that suggests it was all a stunt designed to weaken security….

***

On a wing and a prayer
Scott Johnson

The case of the flying imams is not over by a long shot. After a pray-in at the Minneapolis airport yesterday, Minneapolis "Muslim leaders" cited the case of the flying imams in support of the need for a Muslim prayer room at the airport: "Area Muslim leaders ask airport for prayer room." It's a bit difficult to follow the logic. Apparently Muslims need a place to shout "Allah" without arousing the fears of the flying public.

In addition to yesterday's pray-in for a prayer room, the Star Tribune story also discusses the seat belt extenders and reports the weight of two imams who asked for the extenders. This week's Washington Times articles by Audrey Hudson (here and here) reported that three imams including Omar Shahin (who is not overweight) asked for extenders ("Flight attendants said three of the six men, who did not appear to be overweight, asked for the seat-belt extensions, which include heavy metal buckles, and then threw them to the floor under their seats"). I can't reconcile the reports.

In any event, here is the heart of the Star Tribune story:

Area Muslim religious leaders have asked for a prayer room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after six Muslim leaders were escorted off a plane last week because of security concerns.

The local imams, who prayed on the mezzanine level before meeting with airport officials Friday afternoon, said a prayer room is essential because of the need to pray several times a day. The act itself is nonintrusive, they said.

"We as Muslims, we are part of this country," said Abdulrehman Hersi, a Minneapolis imam. "You have to pray wherever you are. Our prayer...we believe that we talk to our lord. It does not make harm to anyone."

Airport director Steve Wareham said it would be possible to accommodate their needs, possibly in the form of a "meditation room" like those available at other airports. Such a room would be interfaith, he said.

Wareham said the airport does not have a meditation room, although quiet waiting rooms and spaces are available. A chaplain has a small room at the airport, he said, adding that until now there haven't been requests for a prayer room.

Six imams were removed from a Phoenix-bound US Airways flight Nov. 20 after a ticket agent and passengers said they were praying loudly at the gate and visiting each other while on the plane.

They were questioned by authorities, including the FBI, and released.

The incident caused a nationwide debate about security concerns versus the imams' civil rights.

The airport police report describes concerns about the imams reported by passengers and airline employees.

They included "very loud" praying that included "chanting" of "Allah, Allah, Allah" before the flight. Two of the men requested seat-belt extenders that an off-duty flight attendant didn't think the men were large enough to need.

US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant said the airline has reviewed but not changed its policies in light of the incident. "We feel that the crew followed procedure and acted for the safety of others," he said.

The imams have said that their prayers were standard sunset prayers and that the seat-belt extenders were requested because some are large men. (The police report lists the weights of two as 230 and 250.)

The imams, who had attended a religious conference in Bloomington, flew home the next day on Northwest Airlines.

The Twin Cities imams who met with airport officials Friday said there is a gap in communication. They said officials need to forge more understanding with the Muslim community.

"We are Americans," said Abdullahi Wasuge, an assistant imam in Minneapolis.

Unfortunately, the ringleader of the flying imams is also an American.  ...

***

About Those Imams
Why U.S. Airways Kicked 'Em Off Flight
By Richard Miniter

December 2, 2006 -- THE notorious case of U.S. Airways Flight 300 gets stranger by the minute, as more facts emerge about why six traveling Muslim clerics were asked to deplane.

A passenger on that flight - I'll call her "Pauline" - has inadvertently publicized some facts via a much-forwarded e-mail; she gave me more details in an interview this week. The airport police report confirms some of her claims and holds more revelations of its own. And U.S. Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader also confirmed much of Pauline's account.

One detail that's escaped most reports is that other Muslim passengers were left undisturbed and later joined in a round of applause for the U.S. Airways crew.

"It wasn't that they were Muslim," says Pauline. "It was all of the suspicious things they did." Sitting by Minneapolis-St. Paul's Airport Gate C9, she noticed one imam immediately. "He was pacing nervously, talking in Arabic," she said.

As the plane boarded, she said, no one refused to fly. The public prayers and an Arabic phone call triggered no alarms.

But then a note from a passenger about suspicious movements of the imams got the crew's attention.

To Pauline, everything seemed normal. Then the captain - in classic laconic pilot-style - announced there had been a "mix-up in our paperwork" and that the flight would be delayed.

In reality, the crew was waiting for the FBI and local police to arrive.

Contrary to press accounts that a single note from a passenger triggered the imams' removal, Captain John Howard Wood was weighing multiple factors.

* An Arabic speaker was seated near two of the imams in the plane's tail. That passenger pulled a flight attendant aside and, in a whisper, translated what the men were saying: invoking "bin Laden" and condemning America for "killing Saddam," according to police reports.

* An imam seated in first class asked for a seat-belt extender -  ...

***

6 Imams Kicked Off Plane Gave Crew Several Reasons to Be Suspicious 
By Cassie Carothers, Associated Press [!]

Six imams were kicked off a US Airways flight last week in Minneapolis for committing several acts of suspicious behavior, not just because they said their evening prayers before boarding the plane, a police report shows, contradicting earlier media reports.

US Airways manager Robby Taylor Davis told police three of the six imams had one-way only tickets and only one passenger checked luggage. He also said in the police report that most of the six requested seat-belt extensions typically used by obese people despite being thin.

Also, a passenger on the plane who speaks Arabic heard the group mention Saddam Hussein and criticize the United States' involvement in Iraq. The passenger, whose named was redacted from the police report, said he saw two of the men take seats in the front of the plane, two take seats in the middle, and two more in the back.

Click here to read the full police report.

Minneapolis police, along with U.S. Federal Air Marshals, decided the collective behavior of the group was suspicious enough to detain the men and question them.

Earlier reports only said the group had been seen praying loudly before the flight, and the group was removed after a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant bringing attention to the group, and did not include details on the other suspicious behavior of the imams. ...

***

Muslims Want Prayer Room At Minneapolis Airport
Ed Morrissey

The fallout from the US Air decision to bar six Muslims from a flight last week continues. Now local Muslims want Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport to provide them with a room for their prayers in order to keep other passengers from seeing them as a security threat. MSP officials might agree to a non-denominational "meditation space" as a compromise:

Area Muslim religious leaders have asked for a prayer room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after six Muslim leaders were escorted off a plane last week because of security concerns.

The local imams, who prayed on the mezzanine level before meeting with airport officials Friday afternoon, said a prayer room is essential because of the need to pray several times a day. The act itself is nonintrusive, they said.

"We as Muslims, we are part of this country," said Abdulrehman Hersi, a Minneapolis imam. "You have to pray wherever you are. Our prayer ... we believe that we talk to our lord. It does not make harm to anyone."

Airport director Steve Wareham said it would be possible to accommodate their needs, possibly in the form of a "meditation room" like those available at other airports. Such a room would be interfaith, he said.

This is another attempt to obfuscate the events that occured in Minneapolis last week and to paint the incident as bigotry run amuck. The passengers and flight crew did not remove the imams for merely offering sunset prayers, as implied in this statement. They carried on loud political conversations about their opposition to the war on terror, they took seats which were not assigned to them, they interfered with boarding of other passengers, and they requested seatbelt extensions for their supposed girth. I outweigh all of these men, and I've never had a problem using a standard belt.

Now they want to continue their victim act by demanding that the airport commission grant them their own secluded space for the practice of their religion. Bunk. All travelers have the same accommodations in airports, regardless of religion or race, and that's the way it should stay. ...

***

See next.