Detroit's Arabs under scrutiny

Detroit's Arabs under scrutiny

DETROIT - With Hezbollah in its biggest fight in years, federal agents said this week that they're keeping close tabs on its presence in metro Detroit, where support for the militant Lebanese-based group runs high among some Muslims and Arab-Americans, raising concerns that terrorist cells could be activated.

Eric Straus, chief of the counterterrorism unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit, said that FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities are monitoring "the effects of world events" on Hezbollah activity in southeastern Michigan.

Other officials said that federal agents are monitoring the potential for violence in other cities, including Baltimore and Los Angeles.

In the Detroit area, home to the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States, the FBI has renewed contact with informants, held private meetings with Arab-American and Muslim leaders, and voiced concern about public support shown for Hezbollah at rallies in Dearborn, Mich.

But there is no evidence of any immediate threat, they added.

"Our office's Number 1 priority is preventing another terrorist attack," Straus said. "We will continue to use whatever lawful tools we have available to disrupt any financial or material support of Hezbollah originating in this district."

Law enforcement officials also have alerted local leaders in the Jewish community about potential security threats at synagogues, a threat intensified by the shooting death of a woman at a Jewish community center in Seattle last week by a Muslim American.

"We have to keep our eyes and ears open because of the war with Israel. . . . These are trying times, and we should be careful," said Betsy Kellman, Michigan director of the Anti-Defamation League.