Mike
01-22-2011, 07:23 PM
A Northern Virginia teen who had been barred from flying home from Kuwait landed in Washington on Friday morning, four weeks after being detained, allegedly beaten by Kuwait authorities and questioned by FBI agents about possible terrorist connections.
In August 2009, Mohamed said he went to Kuwait, where another relative lives, to continue his studies. Last month, while at the airport to renew his visa, he was detained by two men. Once in the back seat of a car and blindfolded, he said, he burst into tears. ... Over the next several days, Mohamed said he was interrogated for 12 hours a day, slapped, beaten with sticks and threatened with electrocution. He said his interrogators demanded his e-mail and Facebook passwords, which he gave them, and took his iPhone.
After a week, Mohamed said he was taken to a deportation facility where he was visited by three FBI agents. He said they asked him why he went to Yemen and Somalia, saying his travels "raised red flags." He said he refused to talk to them without a lawyer present.
A State Department spokesman said the U.S. government had no role in Mohamed's initial detention. The Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012107042.html?wprss=rss_print/asection
But U.S. officials insist that the process used to place individuals on the no-fly list is legal and well founded, and relies on credible intelligence.I hope the credible intelligence isn't from the same people who told us about aluminum tubes.
So whom should I believe--the the kid, U.S. officials (whoever THEY are) or the Washington Post? I guess I should be grateful that in America we hear about it, right? In many other countries the kid would probably be gone forever. He says he intends to continue his studies. I hope any disillusionment doesn't drive him into someone else's arms. :(
In August 2009, Mohamed said he went to Kuwait, where another relative lives, to continue his studies. Last month, while at the airport to renew his visa, he was detained by two men. Once in the back seat of a car and blindfolded, he said, he burst into tears. ... Over the next several days, Mohamed said he was interrogated for 12 hours a day, slapped, beaten with sticks and threatened with electrocution. He said his interrogators demanded his e-mail and Facebook passwords, which he gave them, and took his iPhone.
After a week, Mohamed said he was taken to a deportation facility where he was visited by three FBI agents. He said they asked him why he went to Yemen and Somalia, saying his travels "raised red flags." He said he refused to talk to them without a lawyer present.
A State Department spokesman said the U.S. government had no role in Mohamed's initial detention. The Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012107042.html?wprss=rss_print/asection
But U.S. officials insist that the process used to place individuals on the no-fly list is legal and well founded, and relies on credible intelligence.I hope the credible intelligence isn't from the same people who told us about aluminum tubes.
So whom should I believe--the the kid, U.S. officials (whoever THEY are) or the Washington Post? I guess I should be grateful that in America we hear about it, right? In many other countries the kid would probably be gone forever. He says he intends to continue his studies. I hope any disillusionment doesn't drive him into someone else's arms. :(