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US denies entry to Egyptian Muslim clerics | |
2006-09-23 | |
CAIRO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The United States has denied entry to four Egyptian Muslim clerics sent to Florida to officiate at religious events during the approaching fasting month of Ramadan, Cairo airport officials said on Friday. The last of the four, Zain el-Abdin Mohamed el-Sayed, returned to Cairo on Friday after US immigration authorities refused to let him enter the country. The others flew home over the past two days, said the officials who asked not to be named. All four had valid US visas and were going to Florida as part of an annual programme organised by the Azhar, the Cairo-based institute of Muslim learning. The South Florida Sun Sentinel quoted American Muslim community leader Sofian Abdelaziz as saying the US immigration held the clerics for 24 hours without providing beds or access to phones and then deported them without explanation. “I consider this a big disaster for our community this year,” said Abdelaziz, director of the American Muslim Association of North America in Miami. “We are against extremism and we are not dealing with sheikhs and imams who have a policy to teach extremism ... We lost four good educators,” he added.
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Posted by:Steve White |
#9 And didn't they have to pay their way back? |
Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-09-23 12:09 |
#8 No, you *always* issue them visas. That is because once they are under control of Customs, it is "cavity searching time". If they have outstanding warrants against them, you got 'em. If they are carrying anything of interest, you got 'em. Etc. When you are under the control of Customs, it is almost like being in Gitmo, a legal no-man's land. |
Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-09-23 11:15 |
#7 find out what State Dept puke issued the Visas and fire them on the spot |
Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-23 11:12 |
#6 Aw, you didn't want to rub elbows with us filthy infidels anyway, did you? Now go crawl back into your third world shithole. |
Posted by: regular joe 2006-09-23 08:44 |
#5 Sounds like they shouldn't have even been given visas. |
Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-09-23 04:20 |
#4 "I consider this a big disaster for our community this year" I expect it won't be the last. A year from now this situation will look very different. |
Posted by: Craick Whinetle9127 2006-09-23 01:30 |
#3 About time! |
Posted by: DMFD 2006-09-23 00:36 |
#2 Don't worry - I'm sure State will fix that! |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-09-23 00:35 |
#1 Someone finally grew a brain. |
Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-23 00:32 |