Mob of negroes kill Arab in Detroit. Racial tensions.

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DETROIT -- A group of Arab-American community leaders met Wednesday with Detroit Police officials to discuss what they are calling a possible hate crime involving the fatal beating last week of a 21-year old Yemeni man.

The Aug. 21 beating death of Maher Almawri by a group of African-Americans outside a Sunoco gas station on Detroit's southwest side has sparked anger among Detroit's Arab-Americans, activists say.

"There is a lot of animosity between African-Americans and Arabs, and people in the Arab community are very upset about this incident," said Arab-American Outreach president Abrahim Aljahim, who attended Wednesday's meeting at police headquarters.

Almawri, who immigrated to the United States in September, reportedly drove from his nearby home to the gas station about 12:30 a.m. to purchase a telephone card so he could call his father in Yemen, his family said.

"As soon as he got out of his car, a group of at least 10 people jumped out of a van and a car and started beating him," said the victim's cousin, Marwan Mawiri. "There was no reason for this whatsoever."

Police are investigating the incident, although officials disagree with the theory that Almawri's beating was racially motivated.

"We don't believe this was a hate crime," said Deputy Chief Marshal Lyons, who was one of the police officials at Wednesday's meeting. "I'm not going to say it was random, but it appears to be an assault."

Detroit Urban League President N. Charles Anderson said it doesn't appear there's enough evidence to say the killing was racially motivated.

"Certainly, groups of African-Americans have jumped on a single African-American before," Anderson said. "There's no denying that there's the perception of a rift between the two groups, but I'm not prepared to jump to conclusions."

Imad Hamad, director of the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, said the incident was likely a hate crime. Hamad also met with police Wednesday.

"This incident has shaken the Arab-American community to the core," Hamad said.

Aljahim said the fatal beating was the latest in a string of incidents involving African-Americans and Arabs.

"There was another beating at that same gas station a little more than a month ago," Aljahim said. "It was the same thing: a group of black guys beating a Yemeni American for no apparent reason."

There has long been tension between some of Detroit's blacks and Arabs.

In 1999, two Yemeni immigrants working at a Detroit gas station got into a fight with a black man, Kalvin Porter, who died from his injuries. That incident sparked a summit meeting between Detroit's black and Arab leaders.

In 2001, New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church pastor Horace Sheffield III led a boycott of Arab-owned gas stations in response to what he called the disrespectful treatment blacks were receiving.

"The animosity is not because we're black and they're Arab," said Detroit community activist Ron Scott, who was involved with protests following the Porter killing. "It's usually an economic issue, or a misunderstanding of cultures.

"But we need to come together, because we share many of the same issues as people of color," Scott said. "And it's important to point out: Not all Arabs and black people are at odds, although some people might have that perception."