The FBI has greatly intensified investigations of alleged U.S. supporters of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Hizbullah, according to government officials quoted by the Washington Post on Thursday.
The newspaper said the FBI is devoting more resources to the two Middle Eastern groups, which command more widespread support in Arab and Muslim communities across the US. Officials claimed that there are active Hizbullah cells in the US but that most of their renewed efforts are aimed at alleged financial supporters of both groups -- including Islamic centers, charities and criminal rings from Washington to Detroit to Los Angeles.
The stepped-up investigations in at least two dozen U.S. cities were triggered by a November 2002 ruling from a secretive three-judge appeals panel. The renewed efforts are another example of the more aggressive tactics the FBI has been freed to use in the war on terror since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. (Albawaba.com)
