Washington, D.C.: Pakistani crewman arrested

One of four Pakistani crewmen who jumped ship in a Virginia port was arrested Saturday in Texas, immigration officials said Saturday.

Ahmad Salman’s arrest was based on leads developed by Immigration and Naturalization Service investigators at a bus station in Norfolk, Va., agency spokesman Bill Strassberger said. Those leads took INS special agents to Philadelphia and eventually to San Antonio.

After being put under brief surveillance, Salman was arrested at midday without incident at a San Antonio apartment building where he was staying with an acquaintance, Strassberger said. He was being held without bond pending further proceedings.

The case prompted demands for stricter security because of reports that an immigration official improperly allowed the men to come ashore. An INS inspector failed to get authorization before granting a special waiver allowing them off the ship, according to a Justice Department official.

Washington, D.C..: Islamic group establishes civil rights defense fund

An Islamic advocacy group hopes to raise $1 million for a legal defense fund to help people alleging civil rights violations since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Saturday it was creating the fund. It wants to reach its $1 million target by the end of this year by collecting private donations nationwide.

“After Sept. 11 there was a lot of backlash and abuse of human rights, and many people who needed help could not get help,” said Nihad Awad, the council’s executive director.

Awad said the council’s Washington office had received 1,800 complaints from Arab and Muslim Americans of discrimination and backlash since the terrorist attacks, far more than the 300 complaints it typically handles each year.