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Police are investigating whether comments by the president of the Canadian Islamic Congress constitute a hate crime.

Mohamed Elmasry said that all Israelis over 18 are fair targets for suicide bombers. He later recanted this view, saying he was trying to express a widely held Palestinian position, not his own.

His remarks and apology continue to cause outrage among Jewish and Muslim groups, which are calling for his resignation. The comments have sparked a probe by Halton Regional Police and by the University of Waterloo, where Mr. Elmasry is a professor of computer engineering.

"We have been made aware of this interview and the circumstances and comments made, and will determine whether there are any criminal offences here and go from there," said Sergeant Jeff Corey of the Halton Regional Police.

Mr. Elmasry initially made the remarks on Oct. 12 on The Michael Coren Show, an Ontario weekday current-affairs program on Crossroads Television System in Burlington, Ont. He reiterated them in an interview with The Globe and Mail on Friday, which were published on Saturday.

"Israel has a people's army and a draft, and therefore they should be considered legitimate targets. They are part of the occupying power, and Palestinians consider them targets for suicide bombers, as well as other means," Mr. Elmasry told The Globe.

The CIC will hold a board meeting soon and will take whatever action deemed appropriate, Faisal Joseph, national legal counsel for the group, said yesterday. He could not rule out Mr. Elmasry's resignation.

"There is nothing that's not under consideration. The board will review the circumstances and his explanation and decide whether to go further on this. What he said was totally inappropriate, and I don't make excuses for him. It goes against the Koran. It's a serious, unqualified mistake that needs to be remedied."

University of Waterloo president David Johnston called Mr. Elmasry's remarks "abhorrent and alarming," and asked the dean of science yesterday to conduct a review of the incident that could result in a letter of reprimand, suspension or dismissal, said university spokesman Martin Van Nierop.

Mr. Elmasry did not return calls, but the CIC issued a statement on the weekend saying the group's president was trying to convey a widely held Palestinian view and regrets that his comments were misunderstood and caused offence.

But the Canadian Jewish Congress said a review of the television tape reveals it was his "personal, passionately held view" that all Israeli civilians over 18 are legitimate targets for suicide bombers.

The Canadian Muslim Congress and the Canadian-Arab Federation also reject the notion that Mr. Elmasry speaks for Palestinians, saying they do not uniformly endorse this position.

"The majority in the diaspora agree that civilians are not a fair target, and there is debate among those in the occupied territories and voices calling for non-violent resistance," said Omar Alghabra, president of the Canadian-Arab Federation.

"In an attempt to explain his position, rather than apologize he has complicated the situation further and misrepresented another group."

Mr. Joseph said Mr. Elmasry's comments are all the more damaging to his reputation because Mr. Elmasry was recognized nationally by political leaders and charitable groups for building bridges between communities of different faiths. "It just breaks my heart that a man who has dedicated decades of his life to a peaceful solution in the Middle East and throughout the world, that this is what he'll be remembered for."

The CIC is considered a pioneer of advocacy for Muslims, and is best known for its annual survey on perceived anti-Islam bias in the news media, for its many op-ed pieces in The Globe and Mail and other newspapers and its annual Parliament Hill dinner. This year, it issued an election report card on MPs' performances, assessing them, among other things, on their stands regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

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