The Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati on Wednesday blasted an FBI roundup of more than 25 Muslims Friday in Boone County, saying it ''represents a clear departure from reasonable conduct.''
Agents from the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and local law enforcement agencies swept through apartment complexes in Burlington and Florence, in one instance interrupting the weekly prayer service of a group.
''On that day, in a place of worship, as Muslims gathered for Friday obligatory congregationa l prayer service ... their service was stormed by FBI agents, INS officials and local police,'' sa id the statement from the center, located in West Chester, Ohio. ''The worshippers were not permitt ed to offer prayers and over two dozen of them were taken away, some in handcuffs, even though the authorities had search warrants for only three people.''
Most of those picked up were released after questioning. The four who remain in custody are being held by the INS for immigration violations.
An FBI spokesman said Wednesday the roundup was a case of mistaken identity.
Authorities initially believed one, possibly three of the men who hijacked planes Sept. 11 in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon had lived in Burlington in the last six to nine months, said Ed Boldt, spokesman for the Cincinnati FBI office.
The FBI has learned that someone with the same name as one of the hijackers on the plane that slammed into the Pentagon -- Hani Hanjour -- flew into Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport on Dec. 11 on an international flight.
But the FBI isn't sure where he went from there, if he simply got on a connecting flight or bought a ticket for another flight.
''We had developed what we thought was not absolute knowledge or proof but probable cause to believe -- based on interviews and some photo identification from witnesses -- that one or maybe as many as three of the known hijackers resided in Northern Kentucky sometime during the past six to nine months,'' Boldt said.
Before the raid, FBI agents had showed witnesses, who Boldt would not identify, photographs of all the hijackers and some said they recognized Hanjour.
After interviewing the 25 people, however, the FBI realized those witnesses were wrong.