CNN: An In-Depth Look at Al Qaeda

Aired Saturday September 22, 2001 - 12:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: ...Let's get some more insight now as to how these groups, these terrorist cells can form in the midst in the name of Islam and the Muslim world. We're joined now from Detroit by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. He is with the Islamic Supreme Council of America. Shaykh Kabbani, welcome to CNN and thanks for joining us.

SHAYKH HISHAM KABBANI, ISLAMIC SUPREME COUNCIL OF AMERICA: Thank you, thank you.

KAGAN: I think many Americans over the last 11, 12 days or so have received a crash course in Islam and the Muslim world. And we've been told over and over again that Islam means peace and love. I think it's hard for a lot of Americans to grasp the idea -- how within this world and this religion of peace and love can grow such a hatred to hurt so many people.

SHAYKH HISHAM : It's true what you are saying, people cannot understand it. But originally, these people who are doing these terrorist actions are not Muslims and not having nothing to do Islam. They are hiding behind their fingers in order to blame everything on Islam because they've been opposed by their government and they run away from their countries and they establish themselves in these areas or a place where they can practice freely what they want.

KAGAN: And in fact, a number of Muslims were hurt and killed on the day of September 11 in the World Trade Center towers. And in the days ensuing, life has become very difficult for many Muslim Americans here in this country.

SHAYKH HISHAM : Yes, many Muslims have been -- were killed there, and they had a prayer place even in the workplace center where every Friday they pray their Friday ceremony. And as a result, that attack was an attack on Islam as a whole and that's why the Muslims, they are afraid that they are a target not from the Americans. Because they know the Americans are peaceful people and they came to this country to feel freely and to live freely because it's a country of freedom. But they are targets from their other Muslim brothers.

KAGAN: I want to call on another expertise of yours and as I understand it, in reading about you before this interview, you have many ties in Uzbekistan. And this is one of the areas of Central Asia that is coming to focus right now. One of the former Soviet republics that basically has become focus and Ground Zero for what could be the next military attack. What can you tell us about Uzbekistan, about that country and what's happening there?

SHAYKH HISHAM : You know, after the collapse of the ex-Soviet Union, the Central Asian countries begin to have their own structures and their own traditional Islam. They begin to bring back their traditional and mainstream Islam. So they didn't want any kind of a new sect that might interfere in their country because they knew that this network or there are extremists that they invented something for themselves, an Islam sect for themselves at the beginning of the century and they want a place to begin their state. So -- and they found Uzbekistan and the Central Asia as a fertile soil for them.

So Uzbekistan, you did -- they tried hard to prevent infiltration of these extremists inside their countries. But unfortunately, they had a lot of sanctions against them because they were accused that they are not letting freedom of religion. And we know in our Islamic belief and that sometime they might infiltrate extremists inside and they try to stop it as hardly as possible. And this is what they did. And they never let these extremists to answer in their countries. And now, they open their countries for such -- in support for the United States.

KAGAN: So it sounds to me though both the people of Uzbekistan and also the United States have a difficult balancing act to do here -- to try to fight the extremists but if the United States steps over the line and is too critical of the Arab world or hurts too many innocent people -- in fact, many of those of people who support the United States might end up turning toward the extremists.

SHAYKH HISHAM : That's correct. That's why we -- our advice was, from the beginning of the attack and before the attack, on 1999, when I spoke on the State Department -- I said that United States has to separate the majority of Muslims from this extremists and not to blame any Muslims because they are peace loving and all Arab countries and Muslim countries are allies to the United States.

And what happened is that, today, I heard from Egyptian sources that the president of Egypt is worried that if an attack comes on innocent Muslim countries and the Arab countries, many people will retaliate and begin to be a danger against the interests of America. So that's why they need to have the allies of -- and the coalition of the Arab countries and Muslim countries before they do any act of attack on Afghanistan and innocent people would be dead.

KAGAN: Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Kabbani, thank you very much for joining us and providing your insight for us today, sir, very much appreciated.

SHAYKH HISHAM : Thank you. 

ISCA Media Coverage following tragic attacks by terrorists on WTC and Pentagon: Here is a small selection of media excerpts from interviews of Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Chairman of Washington DC-based Islamic Supreme
Council of America (ISCA), regarding the recent terrorist attacks in the
U.S. For more excerpts and newspaper articles see:
http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/MediaCenter/IntheNews/wtc_tragedy/media_excerpts.htm