Parents of teen convert affiliated with terrorism via mosque
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 9/1/2009 7:00:00 AM
As OneNewsNow reported on Monday, Rifqa Bary fled from her parents after she claims her father threatened to kill her when he learned from members of his mosque, the Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Columbus, Ohio, that Rifqa converted from Islam to Christianity. Rifqa is staying with a Christian foster family in Orlando pending a court hearing this Thursday.
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Her father says Rifqa can practice any religion she wants and that he only wants her to return home. But Orlando attorney John Stemberger said in a telephonic news conference on Monday afternoon that Rifqa fears for her life, and that Rifqa's family is heavily involved with the Noor Islamic Cultural Center.
"The primary issue in the case is the clear and present danger that is presented by the Noor Center mosque and its ties to terrorist activity. We believe that the facts are there that support the allegation that this mosque has ties to terrorist activity," he notes. "Rifqa's affidavit indicates that her parents were regularly involved with this mosque."
Stemberger points out it was the Noor Center that tipped off Rifqa's family about her conversion to Christianity.
"While Rifqa believes that her parents may have suspected that she had an interest in Christianity because they found a book in 2007, it wasn't until members of the Noor Center community, the leaders, contacted her father and informed him that they need to deal with this matter immediately," Stemberger says.
Stemberger has filed an affidavit from Rifqa along with an Investigation and Intelligence Memorandum on the Noor Center activities to support his petition that the court keep Rifqa in the custody of the state of Florida until her eighteenth birthday.
