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US Man Stuck in Egypt Because of No-Fly List Doesn't Hold Grudge

US Man Stuck in Egypt Because of No-Fly List Doesn't Hold Grudge
Yahya Wehelie (AP Photo)

McLEAN, Va. (CBS/AP) Following a thorough FBI investigation, Yahya Wehelie, the Virginia man who was stranded in the Middle East for months after being placed on the no-fly list, will be allowed to return to the United States.

Wehelie traveled to Yemen nearly two years ago in order to learn Arabic and seek direction in his life, but because Yemen has become a hot spot in the war on terror the FBI began to wonder why the U.S. citizen chose that country to study in.

The 26-year-old, who is of Somali descent, was questioned in Egypt and held there for more than two months; however, the man from Burke, Va. does not begrudge the government for conducting the investigation, but rather praises the FBI for its attempts to make the United States safe.

"I'm not angry at all. I know who I am and I knew eventually I would go home," he said. "They're trying to find the bad people, so more power to them."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, does not feel the same way.

Obviously, they are happy Wehelie's case is resolved, but question the constitutionality of detaining Muslim citizens and denying them reentry into the country without due process.

Something similar happened to Wehelie's 19-year-old brother Yusuf who had also traveled to Yemen. He was questioned by U.S authorities in Cairo, and detained in a Egyptian jail where he shackled to a wall and, according to him, mistreated.

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