| Farrakhan bush threat { October 8 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm11237_20021008.htmhttp://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm11237_20021008.htm
Farrakhan kicks off anti-war campaign in Detroit
Tuesday, October 8, 2002
BY DAVID CRUMM FREE PRESS RELIGION WRITER
Minister Louis Farrakhan, head of the controversial Chicago-based Nation of Islam, kicked off a three-day, anti-war campaign in metro Detroit on Tuesday by calling President George W. Bush a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
``I am crying out to the American people to rise up, because our president is a threat to world peace,'' Farrakhan said at a press conference at Greektown's Atheneum Hotel.
Surrounded by supporters from the Nation of Islam, an African-American offshoot of Islam that today comprises only a small portion of black Muslims, Farrakhan was cheered by his followers as he talked with journalists.
His remarks often were interrupted with shouts of ``Go ahead!'' and ``Yes, sir!''
Iraq is not a threat to the United States, Farrakhan said repeatedly. ``The threat is a figment of the imagination of the president of the United States and his advisors.''
Farrakhan acknowledged that most Americans probably were swayed by Bush's address to the nation on Monday evening. He called the president's televised appeal for a hard line against Iraq ``sober, brilliant and appealing.''
In the face of such persuasive arguments, anti-war activists have to speak out quickly, Farrakhan said.
At noon on Wednesday, he has been invited to address Detroit City Council in their main auditorium at the Coleman A. Young Building. The event is open to the public. On Thursday, he plans to visit a mosque in Dearborn.
Contact DAVID CRUMM at 313-223-4526 or crumm@freepress.com.
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