Muslim Physicist Files Suit Charging Energy Department With Discrimination

In Pittsburgh, (PA) yesterday, nuclear physicist Dr. Moniem El-Ganayni filed suit in federal district court charging the U.S. Department of Energy with religious discrimination in its suspension of his security clearance last December. The suspension cost El-Ganayni his job with Bettis Laboratory where he had worked since 1990. Yesterday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported on the case. The Department of Energy has refused on national security grounds to disclose the reason for the security clearance suspension. El-Ganayni, a founder of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, says that the FBI and Energy Department have questioned him about his religious beliefs, his work as a prison chaplain, his political views on the Iraq war and speeches he gave at local mosques critical of the FBI. He says he was never questioned about security breaches or handling of classified information. The lawsuit also charges the security clearance suspension violated El-Ganayni's First Amendment free speech rights.