Secret spying on Muslims discovered in the U.S.

[sonz]

Officials at the Bush administration revealed on Friday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been secretly monitoring Muslims’ mosques homes and businesses in U.S. for abnormal radiation levels since 2002.

Leaders of the Washington-area Islamic community were scheduled to hold a press conference to express their disgust at the “radiation monitoring” reports.

The U.S. officials confirmed that monitoring of radiation levels took place at more than 100 Muslim homes, businesses and mosques in the capital region and in other areas nationwide.

One government official said the authorities don't obtain warrants, claiming that this was due to the fact that the testing is conducted from outside the buildings on what they consider public property.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, denounced the program as "misguided" and targets "the wrong people."

“This disturbing revelation, coupled with recent reports of domestic surveillance without warrant, could lead to the perception that we are no longer a nation ruled by law, but instead one in which fear trumps constitutional rights,” Awad told CNN "All Americans should be concerned about the apparent trend toward a two- tiered system of justice, with full rights for most citizens, and another diminished set of rights for Muslims."

The FBI claims that its program is aimed at finding radioactive material that could be used to make a dirty bomb, which combines radioactive material with conventional explosives to spread radiation over a large area.

One official at the U.S. government said that most of the testing is carried out in Washington as it is the nation's capital and considered a potential target for attacks. But another official said testing also has been conducted in Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Las Vegas, Nevada; Seattle, Washington; and New York City.