Is airline passenger John Doe being sued by the imams for reporting their suspicious behavior, or not? That is the question that apparently remains unanswered. Washington Times reporter Audrey Hudson filed a report yesterday chronicling the behind the scenes dispute over whether or not the imams are suing the John Doe passengers from a November 2006, US Airways flight from which the imams were removed.   

Frederick J. Goetz, one of the the imams' attorneys, says that the six Muslim clerics have dropped the John Doe passengers from their federal lawsuit. But the Becket Fund, a "religious-freedom advocacy group" offering free legal representation to the John Does, says the imams lawyers are playing games. According to Hudson, Becket Fund President Kevin J. Hasson went so far as to send the imams' attorney a pre-written document which would officially release the John Does from the case if signed. But so far, the imams' attorneys refuse to sign. 

"Now we"re making it easy for them; if they truly mean not to sue the passengers, all they have to do is sign on the dotted line," Mr. Hasson said.

The plaintiffs' failure to formally dismiss the passengers from the suit is "another sign that what they're really up to is trying to intimidate future airline passengers from coming forward with their suspicions," Mr. Hasson said.

"That is outrageous and has nothing to do with religious liberty. And we will continue to fight them every step of the way," Mr. Hasson said of the imams' lawsuit.

Mr. Goetz said he will not respond to the Becket Fund's request, because the court has yet to approve the group's amicus brief, filed Aug. 1, that requests charges against the "John Doe" passengers be dropped.

The Minneapolis Airport Commission, named alongside US Airways in the imams' federal lawsuit suit, said through its spokesman, Pat Hogan, that its attorneys have not been notified that the John Doe passengers have been dropped from the suit.

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