Hundreds March On Madison Avenue In Muslim Day Parade

Hundreds of Muslims chanted and waved flags from around the globe as they marched yesterday in the 22nd annual American Muslim Day Parade.

About 20 protesters shouted anti-Muslim slogans from behind police barricades along Manhattan's Madison Avenue and sought to link the marchers to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A member of the parade organizing committee and a pediatrician from Bay Shore, Dr. Hafiz Ur Rehman, said the marchers condemned the 2001 attacks.

"We are law-abiding citizens, and we want the people of New York to know that Muslims are part and parcel of the landscape," he said. "The motto of this parade is that Islam holds human dignity high. And that is what we want to demonstrate."

Police kept the marchers separate from the protesters, who shouted "God bless America" and "No more 9/11s!"

Protest leader Joe Kaufman, of Coral Springs, Fla., said parade organizers included groups that support terrorist organizations.