Annual Muslim Convention to Begin Friday

Thursday August 31, 2006 

By: Abdirahman Aynte

       The Center for Independent Media

Minneapolis, MN (HOL) The sixth Muslim annual convention is to start Friday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The three-day convention is expected to draw about 4,000 participants, mostly from Minnesota, according to the Council of Imams, the organizing body.

More than 30 speakers, including local politicians, are expected to speak at the convention. Congressman Mark Kennedy and state representative Keith Ellison are some of the local politicians expected to give speeches. James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain in the U.S. Army who was accused of spying before all the charges against him were dropped, is also giving a primetime speech. Among other things, he will be promoting his new book.

Using videoconference technology, some of the speakers will give their speech from their locations oversees. The multilingual convention (English, Arabic, Somali and Oromo) is designed to raise the awareness of Muslims in North America and to network them, organizers said.

Stay tuned for day-to-day coverage of the convention in the next three days.

Abdirahman Aynte can be reached at Ceynte@hiiraan.com

Source: HOL, Aug 31, 2006