| He was told to stay away, but the leader of Ohio’s largest mosque was back leading prayer on Friday. Imam Fawaz Damra has a huge following in his mosque, but there are some who think he should step down. Police were worried the two sides might clash and they were ready with the SWAT team present. "Basically the police officers are here only keep the peace," said Bill Mauer of the Parma police. The mosque’s board of directors thought there would be a problem, so before prayer they went to Parma police. Then the mayor stepped in and called both sides to meet behind closed doors. The mosque is in Parma and the board wanted to hire off-duty officers to keep Damra out. The mayor kept them on the clock and impartial. Damra has been indicted for allegedly lying on his citizenship application back in 1991. The mosque’s board put him on leave. The elders of the mosque invited him back and almost 1,000 members of the mosque came to the afternoon service, many supporting Damra. |