FBI agents in Northern California and across the nation have started a campaign to question Muslims and Arabs who might have information related to a possible pre-election terrorist attack. "We are trying to go into mosques and work with Muslim community leaders, '' Special Agent LaRae Quy, spokeswoman for the FBI regional office in San Francisco, said Tuesday. "We are not showing up with guns or handcuffs, just pencils and pieces of paper.'' The new investigation -- the latest in a series of campaigns since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -- has prompted sharp protests from American Civil Liberties Union and several Muslim organizations. Shirin Sinnar, president of the Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers, says she fears the Bush administration is trying to "sow fear in the Muslim community and chill Muslim political expression.'' At a press conference at the ACLU office in San Francisco, Sinnar showed pamphlets and wallet-sized cards that are being distributed at mosques, markets and elsewhere in the Muslim community. Printed in English, Arabic and Urdu, the cards tell people they have a right to have an attorney present before talking to the FBI, and they list a phone number -- (415) 285-1041 -- for free legal assistance. [more
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