Va. Man Trapped in Egypt on U.S. No-Fly List
A Virginia man said Wednesday he has been stuck in limbo in Egypt for the last six weeks, living in a cheap hotel and surviving on fast food after his name was placed on a U.S. no-fly list because of a trip to Yemen.
Yahya Wehelie, a 26-year-old Muslim who was born in Fairfax, Virginia to Somali parents, said he spent 18 months studying in Yemen and left in early May. The U.S. has been scrutinizing citizens who study in Yemen more closely since the man who tried to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas was linked to an al Qaeda offshoot in Yemen.
Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack
Wehelie was returning to the U.S. with his brother Yusuf via Egypt on May 5 when Egyptian authorities stopped him from boarding his flight to New York. They told him the FBI wanted to speak with him.
He said he was then told by FBI agents in Egypt that his name was on a no-fly list because of people he met in Yemen and he could not board a U.S. airline or enter American airspace. His passport was canceled and a new one issued only for travel to the United States, which expires on Sept. 12. He does not have Somali citizenship.
Wehelie said his brother Yusuf was allowed to return home, but only after he was detained for three days by Egyptian police on suspicion of carrying weapon. He said his brother was shackled to a jail wall and interrogated by a man who claimed to work for the CIA. He was then dumped in the street outside the prison when he feigned illness.
Wehelie said he had no dealings with a terrorist organization while in Yemen and does not see himself as a particularly observant Muslim. He said he was studying information technology at the Lebanese International University in the capital San'a and only visited a mosque a handful of times. He said he had also studied a little Arabic.
"It's amazing how the U.S. government can do something like this," he told The Associated Press from his ramshackle hotel in downtown Cairo.
"I'm cool with all their fighting terrorism and all that, I'm cool with that. I like that, more power to them," he said in American-accented English, wearing baggy basketball shorts and a long white T-shirt.
"My home is America and I don't know why I can't go back there," he said, adding that he even suggested to the FBI to "put me ... in an airplane with a bunch of U.S. marshals or whatever, in handcuffs. Just get me back home."
While in Yemen, Wehelie married a Somali woman whose family had close ties to his own. She remains in Yemen and was to have joined him when he returned home.
His family said Wehelie was never physically abused but subjected to enormous psychological pressure and denied access to an American lawyer his family hired for him.
When he asked the FBI agents how he could return to the U.S., he said one made a reference to how "Columbus sailed the ocean blue," possibly suggesting he take a sea route.
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said the bureau does not comment on whether a particular person is on a watch list. While Bresson did not discuss the FBI's interest in Wehelie, he did note several recent high-profile terror plots, including an attempted car bombing and the failed Christmas Day jetliner bombing, as reminders of the need to remain vigilant.
Egyptian authorities confirmed there is a Somali-American stranded in Cairo waiting for his name to be lifted from a U.S. no-fly list.
Wehelie said the U.S. embassy is for now paying the $16 a night for his hotel, which he will one day have to reimburse, and gives him coupons to eat at U.S. fast food chains.
"I can't even eat at Hardees anymore. I ate everything they had there for like two weeks straight," he said. "Now I can't even walk in there."
He said he was eating pizza now and that his fast food diet has left him feeling unhealthy.
In a news conference Wednesday in Washington by a Muslim civil rights group, his mother Shamsa Noor said she sent her sons to Yemen to learn Arabic and get some direction in their lives and now she feels guilty for that decision.
"It is very frustrating. I feel so guilty because I'm the one who sent them there," Noor said.
The family said Yemen was a natural choice because education was relatively inexpensive and many Somali natives live there.
Wehelie's brother Yusuf also spoke at the news conference.
"What happened to me was wrong and I want to make sure it does not happen to any American citizens," he said.
Officials at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which sponsored the news conference, said they are aware of at least two other cases where American citizens who are Muslims are similarly denied return to the United States.
CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, said the organization understands the need to question travelers and the need to protect national security. But he said the no-fly list is being used as a weapon to punish American Muslims without providing due process.
"We are very concerned that this apparent targeting of American Muslims sends a very wrong message to American Muslims that they are second-class citizens," Awad said.
Wehelie said he is having trouble sleeping and spends his days at Internet cafes and watching the World Cup in the hotel's threadbare common room.
Wehelie has no intention of returning to Yemen and cannot imagine living in another country.
"My foundation is in America," he said.
Walking through Cairo's teeming streets, Wehelie winced as he passed a fast food outlet.
"I just want a home-cooked meal, man. I miss my mom's cooking."
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Yahya Wehelie, a 26-year-old Muslim who was born in Fairfax, Virginia to Somali parents, said he spent 18 months studying in Yemen and left in early May. The U.S. has been scrutinizing citizens who study in Yemen more closely since the man who tried to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas was linked to an al Qaeda offshoot in Yemen.
Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack
Wehelie was returning to the U.S. with his brother Yusuf via Egypt on May 5 when Egyptian authorities stopped him from boarding his flight to New York. They told him the FBI wanted to speak with him.
He said he was then told by FBI agents in Egypt that his name was on a no-fly list because of people he met in Yemen and he could not board a U.S. airline or enter American airspace. His passport was canceled and a new one issued only for travel to the United States, which expires on Sept. 12. He does not have Somali citizenship.
Wehelie said his brother Yusuf was allowed to return home, but only after he was detained for three days by Egyptian police on suspicion of carrying weapon. He said his brother was shackled to a jail wall and interrogated by a man who claimed to work for the CIA. He was then dumped in the street outside the prison when he feigned illness.
Wehelie said he had no dealings with a terrorist organization while in Yemen and does not see himself as a particularly observant Muslim. He said he was studying information technology at the Lebanese International University in the capital San'a and only visited a mosque a handful of times. He said he had also studied a little Arabic.
"It's amazing how the U.S. government can do something like this," he told The Associated Press from his ramshackle hotel in downtown Cairo.
"I'm cool with all their fighting terrorism and all that, I'm cool with that. I like that, more power to them," he said in American-accented English, wearing baggy basketball shorts and a long white T-shirt.
"My home is America and I don't know why I can't go back there," he said, adding that he even suggested to the FBI to "put me ... in an airplane with a bunch of U.S. marshals or whatever, in handcuffs. Just get me back home."
While in Yemen, Wehelie married a Somali woman whose family had close ties to his own. She remains in Yemen and was to have joined him when he returned home.
His family said Wehelie was never physically abused but subjected to enormous psychological pressure and denied access to an American lawyer his family hired for him.
When he asked the FBI agents how he could return to the U.S., he said one made a reference to how "Columbus sailed the ocean blue," possibly suggesting he take a sea route.
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said the bureau does not comment on whether a particular person is on a watch list. While Bresson did not discuss the FBI's interest in Wehelie, he did note several recent high-profile terror plots, including an attempted car bombing and the failed Christmas Day jetliner bombing, as reminders of the need to remain vigilant.
Egyptian authorities confirmed there is a Somali-American stranded in Cairo waiting for his name to be lifted from a U.S. no-fly list.
Wehelie said the U.S. embassy is for now paying the $16 a night for his hotel, which he will one day have to reimburse, and gives him coupons to eat at U.S. fast food chains.
"I can't even eat at Hardees anymore. I ate everything they had there for like two weeks straight," he said. "Now I can't even walk in there."
He said he was eating pizza now and that his fast food diet has left him feeling unhealthy.
In a news conference Wednesday in Washington by a Muslim civil rights group, his mother Shamsa Noor said she sent her sons to Yemen to learn Arabic and get some direction in their lives and now she feels guilty for that decision.
"It is very frustrating. I feel so guilty because I'm the one who sent them there," Noor said.
The family said Yemen was a natural choice because education was relatively inexpensive and many Somali natives live there.
Wehelie's brother Yusuf also spoke at the news conference.
"What happened to me was wrong and I want to make sure it does not happen to any American citizens," he said.
Officials at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which sponsored the news conference, said they are aware of at least two other cases where American citizens who are Muslims are similarly denied return to the United States.
CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, said the organization understands the need to question travelers and the need to protect national security. But he said the no-fly list is being used as a weapon to punish American Muslims without providing due process.
"We are very concerned that this apparent targeting of American Muslims sends a very wrong message to American Muslims that they are second-class citizens," Awad said.
Wehelie said he is having trouble sleeping and spends his days at Internet cafes and watching the World Cup in the hotel's threadbare common room.
Wehelie has no intention of returning to Yemen and cannot imagine living in another country.
"My foundation is in America," he said.
Walking through Cairo's teeming streets, Wehelie winced as he passed a fast food outlet.
"I just want a home-cooked meal, man. I miss my mom's cooking."
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The bad guys are not playing games...so we cannot, either.
Why do you live in a country you hate?
this is what you and your like minded bretheren are calling for against the west. to not speak out against this insanity is condoning it. if the muslim world continues to escalate the issue by threatening to bring death to untold number of westerners ... this is likely to occur.
as i said in an different thread ... if you think the western world is not going to defend their way of life ... you're going to find this out the hard way what happens when you really p!$$ everyone off.
[we came here to live,not to die.behind your accusations of us who work hard,respect laws religiously,pay all bills in time,are actually disguises for your own favouritism of your own religion and your own group of americans,it is elitism by birthplace.]
as if this wouldn't be the case for an american in a muslim country? you've actually already stated that many around the world hate americans ... just for being from a specific country.
you're blowing out of both sides of your mouth ... trying to say how what we're doing is so bad ... when you're doing it too.
Has things been always perfect, no, but I would not trade in this country for any other in the world. I have been to a few places in my world and everyone wants to be here as we are the only nation that has the freedoms that we do.
There is no Utopia! This nations has shortcomings just like every other country, but I would leave if you asked me. I came from NOTHING, with alcoholic parents, subpar education and people telling me that I would not amount to nothing. I am blessed with a six-figure job, veteran, two college degrees, three homes and a beautiful little girl on the way. Life has its ups and downs, but thank GOD that he watches over me and keeps me close to him.
Don't put your faith in man as he will fail you and get on your knees and pray to GOD! He is the ONLY one who can change men's hearts!
Learn this well my friend that Freedom is a road which is traveled by the multitude. It took this country almost 200 plus years to get from calling those of African descent a Nig*** to calling me a American and it will take I hope less time for those who dislike Muslims to understand that not all Muslims are terrorist.
Finally, you are not going to convince people on a blog to treat Muslims fairly, but by actions which can bring people together. This is how people learn and put aside their differences. Is the world unfair, yes, but the equalizer of it all is GOD! Therefore, don't let the things in this world get you down ALL men will be judged by and those who believe will spend eternity with HIM.
I did not go out and try to treatned someone by providing my address where this person could bring harm to my family and tell them to bring it on! Don't be naive as I am not the only one posting on this blog and see this information. I have not met anyone that bad in my life unless you harbor some special powers and I know we both don't. Heed these words which is to be thought of as a FOOL than to open your mouth and remove all doubts.