Imam facing deportation allegedly confessed Hamas link to IDF

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
When he faces an immigration judge in two weeks, a popular Muslim cleric fighting deportation may have to counter claims that he confessed to being a member of a terrorist group. According to the IDF, Imam Mohammad Qatanani admitted being a member of Hamas, which both the United States and Israel consider to be a terror group, during interrogation in 1993 in Israel. "Imam Mohammed Katanani was convicted based on his own admission on charges of belonging to an unauthorized association and providing services to an unauthorized association, for being a member of Hamas and acting on its behalf," the army said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press. The US State Department includes Hamas on its list of "designated foreign terrorist organizations." Anyone identified as a member or a supporter of an organization on the list can be refused entry to the United States, according to Lucille Cirillo, spokeswoman for US Customs and Border Patrol.