Posted on 05/21/2003 8:01:42 PM PDT by piasa
(Los Angeles-AP) -- U.S. authorities say a Saudi consular official and Muslim leader is suspected of having terrorist links, so they deported him. The official (Fahad al Thumairy) has been living in Southern California. He was detained at Los Angeles International Airport this week after arriving from Frankfurt. He was deported Thursday, and authorities say he may not return to the United States for five years.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security says he was placed on a flight headed to Saudi Arabia. But officials wouldn't provide details on his alleged terrorist connections.
The 31-year-old had worked for the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles since 1996 and held a post in the Islamic and cultural affairs section of the consulate.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Sat May 10, 2003 01:54 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Saudi consular official was held for two days and expelled from the United States this week because he was suspected of having links with terrorist organizations, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. Fahad al Thumairy, 31, arrived on a flight from Frankfurt on Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport to learn that his visa had been revoked in March, the newspaper reported.
He was barred from returning for five years, and on Thursday was put on an international flight, the paper quoted Department of Homeland spokeswoman Virginia Kise as saying.
He had been at the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles since 1996 and held a diplomatic post in the Islamic and cultural affairs section. He also served as a prayer leader at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, one of Southern California's largest Muslim houses of worship.
The newspaper cited an unidentified official source as saying that a State Department communique specifically mentioned that al Thumairy had "suspected affiliation with terrorists."
A State Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter on Saturday, and neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the King Fahd Mosque could be reached for comment. The Department of Justice and the Saudi consulate did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Saturday May 10, 2003 12:51pm Los Angeles (AP) - U.S. authorities expelled a Saudi consular official and Muslim leader who had been living in Southern California, saying he was suspected of having terrorist links.
Fahad al Thumairy, 31, was detained at Los Angeles International Airport earlier in the week after arriving from Frankfurt and was deported Thursday. He may not return to the United States for five years, authorities said.
"He was placed on an international flight, destined for Riyadh," Saudi Arabia, said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.
Al Thumairy's diplomatic visa was revoked in March, and his name was added to a list of travelers who should not be allowed to enter the United States because of suspected links to terrorism. Officials would not immediately provide details on the alleged connection.
Officials of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles and the Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment.
Al Thumairy had worked for the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles since 1996 and held a post in the Islamic and cultural affairs section of the consulate.
He was also the imam at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, which has one of the largest Muslim congregations in the region. The mosque, built with financing from the Saudi government, was the target of a foiled bomb plot by a member of the militant Jewish Defense League in 2001.
"He never dealt with politics, in his public comments or in private gatherings," said Tajuddin Shuaib, who directs the mosque, which is run by a nonprofit group.
"Like the rest of us, he was really shocked about Sept. 11. He felt it was wrong and, in the long term, that it would harm Muslims. His impression was that it would have some bad repercussions," Shuaib said.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has increased scrutiny of visa applications from Muslim nations around the world. The number of Saudi Arabians who received visas dropped nearly 70 percent in the 2002 fiscal year to about 14,100.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has asked for a clarification from the USA concerning the expulsion of a consular official which some news alleged that the US authorities have expelled because of his relations with Al Qaeda.
An official source in Riyadh said the Kingdom condemns terrorism and combats it and no one at the Saudi embassy is linked either directly or indirectly to terrorism, the source added that there are talks between the Riyadh and the State Department concerning the reasons for the expulsion of Fahd Al Thumayri.
The Los Angeles Times has published that a person was detained for a couple of days then expulsed for suspicions of being linked to Al Qaeda. The newspaper said Al Thumayri had arrived to Los Angeles from Frankfurt but was told that his entry visa to the USA was cancelled and that he is not allowed to enter the USA for five years.
The Saudi diplomat expelled from the United States last week was thrown out because he did not qualify for a diplomatic visa and not because he was suspected of terrorist links, a senior US official said. "There are people from some countries who come in on these diplomatic visas and really don't qualify," the official said, referring to the expulsion of Fahad Al-Thumairy, who had held a diplomatic post in the Saudi Consulate's Islamic and Cultural Affairs Section in Los Angeles.
When asked if Thumairy's expulsion was related to terrorism, as the Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity "that is not the case."
"It had run its course," the official said of Thumairy's diplomatic visa, suggesting that the travel document had been revoked because Washington did not believe the man was a bona fide diplomat. "How many third secretaries do you need?" the official asked rhetorically.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Thumairy was detained at Los Angeles international airport after arriving on a flight from Frankfurt and was expelled two days later on suspicion of links to terrorist groups.
Thumairy, 31, told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that immigration officials at the airport "told me that the issue was linked only to the revoking of my visa and raised no other demands or suspicions."
The US State Department confirmed that a Saudi "individual" had been expelled and said the Saudi Embassy in Washington had been informed of the decisions.
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