(TALLAHASSEE, FL 2/14/2008) - After a meeting Tuesday with state and national Muslim leaders in Tallahassee, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum agreed to establish a Muslim community advisory group, and today reached out to the Florida Muslim Bar Association, the state's only professional association of Muslim attorneys, to help coordinate and participate in such a group.

Tuesday's meeting came about as Muslim civil rights groups expressed concern that the Attorney General appeared to be promoting a film that enforced negative stereotypes about Muslim Americans. The film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" was recently the subject of controversy when played at the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. Among other things, the film portrays mainstream Muslims as a potential terrorist threat. The Muslim community objected to the film being promoted by an elected public servant as means of educating the Attorney General's staff about "radical Islam".

"We conveyed to the Attorney General that the film Obsession does not assist law enforcement in combating terrorism and in fact is counter-productive if relied upon to develop policy and counter terrorism strategies. Those who have limited contact with Muslims may view all Muslims as suspect after watching this film. Working with the many patriotic Floridian Muslims to get an accurate picture of Muslim Americans is a far more effective use of resources.", said FMBA board member Khurrum Wahid who was in attendance.

Attorney General Bill McCollum agreed to build a relationship with the Muslim community in an effort to better serve the people of the State of Florida. He agreed to the formation of a Muslim advisory board to his office, on-going educational programs that present facts about Islam and Muslims to his staff, and he would encourage future showings of the film "Obsession" to have members of the Muslim community present to participate in discussions. The Attorney General said he was sensitive to the Muslim community's concerns that the voices of Muslims in the film could be viewed representative of the majority of Muslim instead of representing those who support "radical Islam".

The hour long meeting included participation from the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relation (CAIR-Florida), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the ACLU of Florida, and interfaith leaders from the Jewish and Christian communities.