Muslim Organization Revives Minnesota Branch

March 15, 2007

Author: Richard Meryhew and Pamela Miller

Source: Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1058473.html

A controversial national Islamic civil liberties organization has revived its Minnesota chapter after a series of highly publicized incidents involving Muslim taxi drivers, store clerks and airline passengers.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has 32 chapters in the United States and Canada, will open a St. Paul office this weekend, leaders said Thursday.

CAIR Minnesota's resurrection, months in the making, comes as the state's Muslim community is being scrutinized as never before.

This week, six imams (prayer leaders) who were removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis in November sued the airline and the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC).