The man behind the anti-Muslim movie
which has ignited riots
throughout the Muslim world is not Jewish or Israeli,
contrary to reports published in various media outlets.
A man who identified himself as a "consultant" to Sam Basile, the filmmaker behind the controversial movie on Wednesday told The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that the claims were untrue.
Steve Klein told Goldberg that "Bacile, the producer of the film, is not Israeli, and most likely not Jewish, as has been reported, and that the name is, in fact, a pseudonym."
The movie has sparked riots throughout Islamic countries
He said he did not know "Bacile"'s real name and added that Bacile contacted him because he leads anti-Islam protests outside of mosques and schools, and because, he said, he is a Vietnam veteran and an expert on uncovering al Qaeda
cells in California.
Klein told Goldberg: "After 9/11 I
went out to look for terror cells in California and found them, piece of cake. Sam found out about me. The Middle East Christian
and Jewish communities trust me."
When asked about Basile's true identity Klein said: "I don't know that much about him. I met him, I spoke to him for an hour. He's not Israeli, no. I can tell you this for sure, the State of Israel is not involved, Terry Jones (the radical Christian Quran-burning pastor) is not involved.
"His name is a pseudonym. All these Middle Eastern folks I work with have pseudonyms. I doubt he's Jewish. I would suspect this is a disinformation campaign."
Klein added that there were about 15 people associated with the making of the film, "Nobody is anything but an active American citizen. They're from Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, they're some that are from Egypt. Some are Copts but the vast majority are Evangelical."
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