The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 15

ll Akron Beacon Journal Thursday, March 10, 1977 Gunmen stop film on Mohammad 1 From Beacon Journal Wirt Services NEW YORK Mohammad had left Mecca and huge crowds were gathering in Medina to greet him when, without warning, the movie screen at the Rivoli Theater in mid-Manhattan went black and the lights came on. Morris Rochelle, the Rivoli's manager, asked the 425 patrons at the first day's showing of "Mohammad Messenger of God" to leave the building. It was about 3 p.m. "There has been a threat," he told the audience. "The movie has been canceled." Salah Hassanein, president of United Artists Eastern theaters, later said that showings of the film were stopped simultaneously at eight other New York and Los Angeles area movie theaters.

The action was taken, Hassanein said, following telephone calls from the police in Washington regarding hostages being held there by members of the Hanafi Moslem sect and that demands that the film be withdrawn. Irwin Yablans, the national distributor of the film, said it will not be seen in the United States "for the immediate future." THE $18 million film has taken eight years to reach the screen precisely because producer-director Moustapha Akkad wanted desperately to avoid any possibility of Reached Wednesday in New York, the 44-year-old Syrian-born director said: "I am willing to show this movie to any Moslem and if they don't like it, I am willing to burn it. If there is any offense, I promise I will burn it." The three-hour film had run into similar trouble at its world premier in London last July. AKKAD was persuaded to change the film's title to "The Message" just 72 hours before its opening because of telephone threats to the theater. The problem both in London and in the United States is that an orthodox interpretation of the Koran strictly prohibits any pictorial representation of Mohammad, or even of his shadow.

Anthony Quinn, the film's star, plays Hamza, the Prophet's uncle. And even though the Prophet is not shown on the screen, reports from London say that Moslems in the audience react strongly at even the suggestion of his portrayal. I Akron Muslims deny link to Washington terrorists community of Islam," he said, ad is. 'V -t set Vrf By DENNIS McEANENEY Beacon Journal Staff Writer The head of Akron's Islamic community says he knows of no ties between the mainstream of Islam and the group holding hostages in Washington, D.C. That group says it belongs to the Hanafi sect of Islam.

"The only thing we know concerning the Washington affair is what the media has told us," Iman Sultan Muhammad said late Wednesday. Sultan Muhammad, leader of Muhammad's Temple 875 Garth said his church is affiliated with the Chicago-based World Community of Islam, an organization led by The Honorable Wallace Muhammad. The organization includes Muhammad Ali among its members. "We're not associated with the Hanafi group in any way, shape or form," Sultan Muhammad said. "Anybody who lives by the Holy Koran is simply a part of the world ding, "There are so many sects within Islam, I wouldn't have any idea how many there are and don't know of anyone who would." MEMBERSHIP in the World Community of Islam has become "quite moderate" in recent years Sultan Muhammad said, and is open to all without regard to color.

He said identification as "Black Muslims" limits Islam to a certain group, although it is a universal religion. "An author named Eric Lincoln wrote a book called "The Negro in and he used the term 'Black This is where the term grew from, but it's not a name we chose. We were stuck with it after the media picked it up." About a year ago, The World Community of Islam in the West changed its name from The Nation of Islam. It is believed to be the largest Islamic group. Wounded Councilman Marion Barry In hospital (JP) i tax iem i 1 i i JVS UUW i 1 gullet stopped short pf councilman heart MOUSTAPHA AKKAD Newspaper ad for movie "Mohammad" MUMS mm YOUR FAMILY CLOTHING STORE the councilman was "a very lucky man.

"The bullet stopped in front of his heart without penetrating bone, and there was no injury to the vital organ," said Howard Champion. Wearing a small bloodstained bandage over his heart, a smiling Barry recalled from his hospital bed the instant after he was hit. He staggered into the city council chambers clutching his chest. People already in the room turned, stunned. "The worst part was I didn't know my condition.

I kept calling for a doctor. People grabbed me and took off my coat." Firemen needed 23 minutes to remove Barry without exposing themselves and the wounded man to the terrorists' weapons. Raising an extension ladder to a wondow outside the chambers, they hauled in a litter and lifted Barry to a waiting ambulance. WASHINGTON OP) Marion wasn't concerned when a rgflard at the District Building iwacned him of "a little trouble" inside. 1 -But a few minutes later, the Washington, D.

councilman Strolled down a fifth floor hallway nd into a volley of gunfire by a terrorist he never saw. bullet stopped just short of heart. heard two shots and dived to Uhe right. And then I felt a hot, burning sensation in my chest. I 3triew I'd been shot," Barry said.

The 41-year-old politician was 'One of 12 persons wounded and one killed in the terrorist takeover of tlyee buildings here. Scores of per-sons were seized as hostages. 'THE DIRECTOR of the Washing-tot Hospital Center's shock trauma -room where Berry was taken, said BE SURE TO COME IN AND PICK UP YOUR COPV OF OUR EXCITING CIRCULAR! you'll find 8 PAGES of the most-wanted family fashions at extra-low prices! ity Hall was his beat find he was killed there fn fPs i i 1 Howard University, said that "apparently Maurice was simply a chance victim of this tragedy. "As a matter of fact he had not planned to go to work today because he had a stomach virus." Terry said he had just come from visiting Williams' parents, Otto and Millie Williams, whom he described as "in a state of shock." "Many of his classmates from Coolidge High School were gathered at the house tonight asking, 'Why did this have to happen? Why to EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN FAMILY CLOTHING AT ROBERT HALL Terry said. liV 7 I'M po'cor flmWtl ik.

til MiKIKm ot lun- JT'VlHiJL Lii'il I hi rVHfi (' V. eoiori Snort Tn) f74 ft 'V i'ik I iNrttjaao WASHINGTON (JP) Maurice Williams' assignment as a reporter for the Howard University radio jttion was to cover a news conference by Washington City Council President Sterling Tucker. The assignment was his last. As he stepped out of a City Hall elovator shortly before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, he was killed by a shot lired by one of the terrorists who bad taken over the building.

As the siege continued, acquaintances recalled Williams as a cheerful" young man with a strong dedication to his profession. WILLIAMS, 24, a native of Washington, first worked at the station jvhile he was a student at the prpdominantly black university. Af-Jer his graduation in 1975, he was Jiifid as a professional member of he-staff. He covered the District J3uflding regularly. J'ln every outfit there is some uy who is always cheerful and effervescent," fellow newsman Ben Johnson said.

"That was Maurice. lid joked all the time and kept everybody's spirits up." Wallace Terry, a professor at "ONE of his friends said Maurice liked to put it this way: He felt that his role in the struggle for black people was to become a jour nalist and help expose the contra dictions in American life. Apparently he has become a victim of one of those contradictions," EXCITING 1311 Terry said. Terry said that Williams consid ered a career as an artist before QUADROBE deciding to go into journalism. Williams was single and lived 4-PC.

SUITS with his parents. The family moved to suburban Silver Spring, a few weeks ago after their Washington home burned down. you Get: 3-Pltc Matched Suit Rtvtrtlbl VmI Contrasting Slacks SAVE 21.11 Hi m. Terror (o)(o) (0)(0) 88 yuf, ar Jlj r. I i If 1 I else's blood, had nearly escaped the B'nai B'ritn building when one of his armed captors called him back.

Incredibly, as James recalled later, he went back. He assured one of the gunmen that he already had told the police, as directed, that the gunmen were to be taken seriously. Then, James said, the abductor released him a second time, saying: "Kiss your wife and baby when you get home." no chargt lor expert Wear i variety ot wayf create ditleranl outfit depending on your mood or the occasion1 tOO potyetlet woven ndl aolida. plaidl. pattern artecis Spring cotori.

MM 36-46. rogulari snort, longt James, a 28-year-old carpenter who was on a scaffold when gunfire broke out in the building, said he was released after describing his Irish ancestry and stating that he Continurd from page A-I trf" honking horns and the muffled J-oar of traffic, there was silence. From the second floor of a parking garage, two police sharpshooters aimed their rifles at the fifth where two gunmen were re- Sirted to be holed up with hos-ges. Nearby, parking lot attendants in right red jackets calmly went Jbout their work. "MEANWHILE, Paddy James Jis trousers splotched with someone JUganda Olympian jVlenies arrest "NAIROBI, Kenya (JP) John Akii-Bua of Uganda, former Olympic j-hampion in the 400-meter hurdles, said he had not been detained President Idi Amin's military regime.

"I am still around and my Peugeot," Akii-Bua told Daily Nation, a Nairobi newspaper, in a telephone interview. -Uganda Radio, monitored in Nai: (M, also said reports of Akii-Bua's arrest were incorrect. The radio said Akii-Bua, a senior police superintendent at Nsambya Police Training School, is currently in training. A had a family. RELATIVES of hostages gath ered at Foundry Methodist Church to await further word.

BisEEH "My mom is on the sixth floor," said a young electrical engineer "But we got word that she and nine others have barricaded them selves into a room and they're still OPEN DAILY 9:30 TO 9 SUNDAY 12 TO 5 safe." How did he feel? "I was scared at first but the information is real sketchy," he CUYAHOGA FALLS STATE RO. Route 8 North Juit South of Steal Corner Rd. AKRON 2765 S. Arlington Rd. Vt Mile North ol 1-77 Interchange COPLEY 3765 Copley Rd.

Between Rt. 21 end Old Rd. TALLMADGE 74 Weat Ave. One Block Wed ol Circle said. "My mother's a real nervous type, so I'd like to be there with her.".