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Islam DVD Provokes Request For Elections Inquiry

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By LINDSAY PETERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

An Islamic advocacy group has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether a group distributing a DVD about radical Islam has targeted swing states in an effort to help Sen. John McCain's presidential bid.

The target of the complaint, the Clarion Fund, is using newspapers across the country to distribute "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West." The 2-year-old documentary film compares radical Islam with Nazism before World War II.

The Tampa Tribune is one of about 70 newspapers that agreed to bundle the DVD inside its paper. One shipment went out in Sunday's Tribune. Another is to be distributed this coming Sunday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed the complaint against Clarion, saying copies of the film were sent to 28 million homes "in what many political analysts describe as 'swing' states in the upcoming presidential elections. Those same analysts say the distribution of the 'Obsession' DVD was designed to benefit a particular presidential candidate, namely Sen. John McCain."

CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, said, "American voters deserve to know whether they are the targets of a multimillion-dollar campaign ... seeking to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria as a way to influence the outcome of our presidential election."

A spokesman for a Clarion Fund partner, the Endowment for Middle East Truth, said that swing states were specifically selected for the film's distribution, but not in an effort to influence the election.

"The decision to put many of the inserts into newspapers in swing states was because we believe that is where the media has concentrated focus. ... We really hope to reach people across the country," spokesman Ari Morgenstern said.

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at lpeterson@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7834.

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