n what has become a nine-month saga of hearings, accusations and protests, local Muslim leader Rabih Haddad was given a new bond hearing yesterday in Detroit.

Haddad has been in jail since his arrest Dec. 14 for overstaying a temporary visa.

His family and friends asked Immigration Judge Robert Newberry to release him on bail yesterday, despite the government's allegations that Haddad is a threat to national security and is likely to flee if released.

"I don't think my husband is a threat to American society. He is an asset to American society," testified Haddad's wife, Salma al-Rushaid, adding that Haddad was among the first people to condemn the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Haddad also testified, saying he would not flee. He would "go home to Ann Arbor with my wife and children and try to put back the shattered pieces of our lives."

The bond hearing will continue later this month and Haddad remains in the Monroe County Jail. Lawyers will meet with Newberry again today to arrange a date.

Haddad was granted the hearing by the U.S. Justice Department after a Sept. 16 federal court order gave the government 10 days to release him or give him a new hearing under a different federal immigration judge.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds gave the order after declaring that the Justice Department's classification of the case as "special interest" unfairly biased Immigration Judge Elizabeth Hacker against Haddad.

The "special interest" label is used only for cases related in some way to the Sept. 11 attacks and suggested that Haddad is a national security threat.

Haddad is a co-founder of the Global Relief Foundation, an Islamic charity that allegedly received funding from al-Qaida financers, according to a 20-page brief filed by the government Monday when arguing that Haddad not be released on bail.

The government's brief stated that the foundation distributed newsletters that "encouraged 'martyrdom'" through a holy war. It also claims the group had the same kind of equipment that was used in a 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The same equipment was also believed to be used by an al-Qaida suspect who is under investigation for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The equipment, which included handheld radio transceivers, long-range radio antennas and portable power packs, were shown on photos and negatives discovered in a trash can outside the foundation's Illinois office in 1997. The photos also showed large shipping boxes displaying the GRF banner.

No criminal charges have been filed against the organization, which had its assets frozen by the government Dec. 14.

The government has also linked Haddad to al-Qaida, alleging that he was observed in locations that supported terrorist networks in the 1980s and 1990s. It has also said Haddad was illegally employed in the United States by GRF, bringing his source of income into question.

In a statement released Sunday, Haddad said he hoped the new hearing would help clear up some of the allegations against him and his foundation.

As to the first allegation, Haddad said "the truth is quite simply that I left the region in mid-1992 when there was no such thing as al-Qaida."

"Since the first hearing upon my arrest, the INS and the judge chose to ignore the overwhelming evidence of my strong ties to the community," he added.

Unlike many of Haddad's previous hearings and testimonies, which took place without media and public's presence because of an order by Attorney General John Ashcroft in respect to special interest cases, the majority of yesterday's testimony was open to the media.

The Justice Department announced last week that it would seek to close part of the hearing if sensitive information that could be valuable to terrorists was discussed.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.