Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 2-7

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Presentations Free Health Screenings Health Booths Refreshments Tours of the Community More Reservations are required. Call (708) 226-3780 for more information. kind of worshipers it would draw. spoken to a lot of people and a lot of hesitancy from the said resident Valerie Jadin. world is a different place.

We need a sense of security and a sense of confidence before we accept this But organizers said those fears were unfounded. have no connection to any other said Mohamed Krad, the dentist donating land. are faithful, God-loving people who want to pray to God like anyone Before the meeting, organizer Malik Ali said the mosque, which would offer inter-faith forums in addition to Friday prayers, would be paid for by local investors with no funding from outside the country. He also said there is no affiliation between the Bridgeview mosque and the proposed facility. cannot control who will pray at the Ali said.

one has nothing to do with the Opponents say they fear some of the organizers may be linked to Bridgeview, which has faced controversy over its ties to hard-line Islamic leaders. a new crime in town. called said Mary Nolan, an opponent. know who is funding Orland project. We know who they are.

I think being The reaction in Orland Park is the latest in a steady stream of opposition to proposed Islamic centers across the nation following Sept. 11, said Kareem Irfan, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. see this type of opposition coming in from across the Irfan said. The Orland Park protests, which include letters claiming the facility would draw Islamic terrorists, appear more strident than those aimed in the past at planned prayer centers for Morton Grove and Palos Heights. In Morton Grove, residents fought a planned mosque in a residential neighborhood on the grounds that it would create traffic and parking problems.

The Planning Board rejected the proposal, and mosque organizers filed a federal lawsuit last year. A Muslim group also sued Palos Heights after it was not able to buy a local church and convert it into a mosque. On the latest proposal, opponents calling themselves Citizens of Orland Parksent a letter titled the war on our own to local media and said they are circulating a petition to block the village from issuing a special-use permit. It also said the group was raising funds to hire a private investigator to check mosque members and funding sources. The main concern, according to the letter, is that some members from the Bridgeview mosque may be involved with the Orland Park proposal.

News reports have said the Bridgeview mosque is a target in a federal investigation of terrorism-related money laundering, although federal officials did not confirm the probe. Some mosque leaders have been accused of supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Despite the concerns of residents, running background checks on mosque backers and sources of funding would be a violation of federal law, Village Manager Robert Zeder said. never done it, and not going to start in this he said. Ali, 51, an entrepreneur and Chicago native, said he was approached in February by a group of local professionals interested in building a mosque.

He said he was asked to check with village officials to see what needed to be done. Ali, who has lived in Orland Park since 1984, said he assured them it would not be a problem. kids grew up here, played baseball and basketball he said. a wonderful town; it has everything. I only leave to go Ali said he has received many more calls of support than opposition, ranging from neighbors and colleagues to anonymous phone calls left on his answering machine.

like to have a place to pray and worship closer to he said. as simple as MOSQUE: Opponents cite fears of terrorism CONTINUEDFROMPAGE1 By Jeff Coen Tribune staff reporter Family members of three women Ronald Hinton has admitted to strangling wept in court Tuesday as prosecutors detailed the crimes for a judge, and some had to walk out as statements about the killings were read into the record. In the statements, Hinton admitted in each case that he wrapped both his hands around the neck of his victim, literally squeezing her last breathfrom her as she struggled beneath him. The 31-year-old pleaded guilty Tuesday in all three cases in an apparent bid to be spared the death penalty, though no agreement has been reached on a sentence in the case. Prosecutors said they still plan to seek capital punishment.

Judge James Schreier is scheduled to sentence Hinton July 13 at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building. Hinton pleaded guilty in the slayings of Felecia Mullins, 17, in December 1996; Keary Lea Gagnier, 36, in August 1998; and Merceda Ares, 31, in February 1999. He was arrested in the Ares murder after an image of him using the ATM card was broadcast by a local news station, his 3rd-grade daughter told her teacher, the teacher told the principal and the police were notified. DNA evidence already had linked the Ares and Gagnier murders and matched Hinton to them. A few months later, testing confirmed a match for Hinton in the killing of Mullins.

Hinton, of the 7000 block of North Wolcott Avenue, made statements implicating himself in all three crimes, which were read for Schreier on Tuesday. Mullins was killed when she threatened to tell girlfriend about a sexual relationship between Hinton and Mulllins. The other two victims were killed during burglaries and after they had been sexually assaulted. Ares was a social worker who pleaded for her life after Hinton and two friends broke into her Rogers Park home, according to statement. had sex with Hinton said in the statement read in court.

said she was a social worker and said she worked with guys like us all the Michael Sanders is charged with first-degree murder in the slayings of Ares and Gagnier, and he could be tried in the Ares murder beginning this week. Man admits in court to strangling 3 women Hinton.