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Alleged Nazi collaborator to lose Canadian citizenship

TORONTO (JTA) — Lawyers for an accused Nazi collaborator who lives in the Montreal area have told Canada's federal Justice Department that they will not contest efforts to rescind his citizenship.

Denaturalization is the first step in the Canadian government's plan to deport Mamertas Roland Maciukas, who was allegedly a member of the 2nd Lithuanian Police Battalion.

A killing unit that worked with the Nazi SS, the battalion was responsible for the murders of tens of thousands of Jews, partisans and suspected communists.

Maciukas is one of 14 suspected Nazi war criminals and collaborators that Canada has brought denaturalization proceedings against during the last few years.

Only one other suspect has previously chosen not to fight denaturalization.

Three suspects from the government's list of 14 have died while their cases were pending, and the remaining nine suspects are still awaiting court action.

Russian authorities expel Farrakhan and his entourage

MOSCOW (JTA) — Authorities in southern Russia have expelled Louis Farrakhan.

Officials in the autonomous region of Dagestan expelled a delegation of foreign Muslims led by the Nation of Islam leader, saying Farrakhan and his group lacked the proper documents.

But the leader of Union of Muslims of Russia, an umbrella group that invited Farrakhan to Russia, said the expulsion was politically motivated and was due to the fact that Dagestani authorities "erroneously described Farrakhan as an extremist."

Farrakhan's delegation was to have traveled to the Dagestani-Chechen border to meet with the leadership of the former breakaway Russian region of Chechnya. Chechnya, like Dagestan, is predominantly Muslim.

Last week, Farrakhan told more than 5,000 Russian Muslims gathered in Moscow's Central Mosque to spread Islam throughout the country.

Russian Jewish leaders said they did not understand the purpose of Farrakhan's visit, which marks the halfway point of his worldwide tour.