TAMPA - Ahmed Bedier no longer is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Tampa chapter.
"CAIR-Florida decided to make a change and go into a new direction," the group's civil rights coordinator, Ramzy Kilic, said this afternoon. "We wish Ahmed the best."
Bedier said the decision was mutual and that he left the post about two weeks ago. Much of his time at CAIR was spent on civil rights complaints, he said, and he wants to focus more time on proactively bringing people together.
"I'm going to build upon my experience as a civil rights leader and basically help in a new organization that will soon be established to promote interfaith dialogue, unity and peacemaking within the Muslim community as well as within the general population," he said.
More details on the new organization, including its name, will be released this summer, he said.
"I'll continue to be based in Tampa, so I'm not leaving the area," he said. "I will continue to work on behalf of the Muslim community in Tampa and beyond. But again, the goals are not strictly to the benefit of the Muslim community."
Bedier, who also is president of the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Council, said he had officially been with CAIR since December 2003. As the local spokesman for CAIR, he worked to dispel stereotypes and promote understanding of the Islamic community.
He said he doesn't know whether he will have time to do any more work for CAIR but that the organization has a lot of other talented people.
Bedier's position has not been filled, Kilic said.
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