USAMA LADEN
23-09-2002, 05:54 AM
Sun, September 22, 2002
Friends say Sudanese no terrorist
Pilot being held on immigration charges
By Michael Biesecker
JOURNAL REPORTER
winston salem journal
GREENSBORO
Friends of a Sudanese pilot jailed on immigration charges while authorities investigate possible links to terrorism say they believe that he is innocent and that he is being unfairly targeted because he is Muslim and can fly an airplane.
Law-enforcement officials say they are trying to determine whether Mekki Hamed, 30, is an al-Qaida operative who planned to crash an airplane into an American target. The FBI arrested Hamed on Sept. 13 and charged him with making false statements while applying for a U.S. visa. He was being held at the Forsyth County Jail last night.
Members of the Islamic Center of the Triad said yesterday that Hamed, a former pilot for the Sudanese national airline, drove a cab in Greensboro for about two years. He was taking college classes and working to bring his wife to this country, they said.
"He is just a cabdriver," said Badi Ali, the president of the Islamic center. "He came here for no other reason than to find a better life."
Hamed, who usually attended Friday services at the mosque, was described as modest and likable. Ali said that Hamed's father is a high-school principal in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
"He is a soft-hearted, hard-working man with a good reputation," Ali said. "Unfortunately, Muslims across the nation are having to deal with events like this. We are guilty until proven innocent."
Men from the mosque met yesterday to discuss ways to help Hamed, who they said is not an especially devout Muslim and had shown no signs of being anti-American. Some collected money for a legal-defense fund and hired a lawyer for him. Hamed's friends say that he left Sudan, a poor African nation wrecked by years of civil war, with the hopes of earning a pilot's license here. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks quashed that dream, they said.
"He knew that as a Muslim he probably wouldn't be allowed to fly," said Jamal Omer, a Sudanese immigrant who worked with Hamed at United Yellow Taxi. "He was going to school for engineering. They got the wrong guy."
There are about 2,000 Sudanese living in Greensboro, and Omer said that about two-thirds of the cabdrivers for Yellow Taxi are from Sudan - many of whom held professional positions back home. Degrees from oversees universities are often not recognized in the United States.
"There are doctors driving cabs here," said Omer, who has a Sudanese law degree. "We drive cabs because you can set your own schedule and go back to school."
Friends say that Hamed took classes at Guilford Technical Community College before enrolling at N.C. A&T State University in spring. Hamed was living in an inexpensive apartment off West Market Street with three other Sudanese cabbies. No one answered the door at the apartment yesterday.
Omer said that the arrest had sent shock waves through the Sudanese community and that Hamed's roommates are living in fear that they might be deported. Since Hamed was arrested, some wives have urged their husbands to shave their beards to better blend in.
A detention hearing for Hamed is scheduled for 2:30p.m. Monday at the Ward Federal Building in Winston-Salem. Though he has not been convicted of any crime, officials denied permission for him to be interviewed.
Omer A. Omer, a program manager for a group that helps African immigrants, said that many who hope to immigrate to the United States don't tell the full truth on visa applications.
"They know if they disclose everything they won't be allowed in," said Omer A. Omer, who is not related to Jamal Omer. "That doesn't make them terrorists."
"We understand that these are sensitive times," Omer A. Omer said. "But if you knew (Hamed) you would know that he is not involved with those people (in al-Qaida). We believe this must be a horrible mistake, but if the evidence proves us to be wrong, we will be the first to condemn him."
Friends say Sudanese no terrorist
Pilot being held on immigration charges
By Michael Biesecker
JOURNAL REPORTER
winston salem journal
GREENSBORO
Friends of a Sudanese pilot jailed on immigration charges while authorities investigate possible links to terrorism say they believe that he is innocent and that he is being unfairly targeted because he is Muslim and can fly an airplane.
Law-enforcement officials say they are trying to determine whether Mekki Hamed, 30, is an al-Qaida operative who planned to crash an airplane into an American target. The FBI arrested Hamed on Sept. 13 and charged him with making false statements while applying for a U.S. visa. He was being held at the Forsyth County Jail last night.
Members of the Islamic Center of the Triad said yesterday that Hamed, a former pilot for the Sudanese national airline, drove a cab in Greensboro for about two years. He was taking college classes and working to bring his wife to this country, they said.
"He is just a cabdriver," said Badi Ali, the president of the Islamic center. "He came here for no other reason than to find a better life."
Hamed, who usually attended Friday services at the mosque, was described as modest and likable. Ali said that Hamed's father is a high-school principal in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
"He is a soft-hearted, hard-working man with a good reputation," Ali said. "Unfortunately, Muslims across the nation are having to deal with events like this. We are guilty until proven innocent."
Men from the mosque met yesterday to discuss ways to help Hamed, who they said is not an especially devout Muslim and had shown no signs of being anti-American. Some collected money for a legal-defense fund and hired a lawyer for him. Hamed's friends say that he left Sudan, a poor African nation wrecked by years of civil war, with the hopes of earning a pilot's license here. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks quashed that dream, they said.
"He knew that as a Muslim he probably wouldn't be allowed to fly," said Jamal Omer, a Sudanese immigrant who worked with Hamed at United Yellow Taxi. "He was going to school for engineering. They got the wrong guy."
There are about 2,000 Sudanese living in Greensboro, and Omer said that about two-thirds of the cabdrivers for Yellow Taxi are from Sudan - many of whom held professional positions back home. Degrees from oversees universities are often not recognized in the United States.
"There are doctors driving cabs here," said Omer, who has a Sudanese law degree. "We drive cabs because you can set your own schedule and go back to school."
Friends say that Hamed took classes at Guilford Technical Community College before enrolling at N.C. A&T State University in spring. Hamed was living in an inexpensive apartment off West Market Street with three other Sudanese cabbies. No one answered the door at the apartment yesterday.
Omer said that the arrest had sent shock waves through the Sudanese community and that Hamed's roommates are living in fear that they might be deported. Since Hamed was arrested, some wives have urged their husbands to shave their beards to better blend in.
A detention hearing for Hamed is scheduled for 2:30p.m. Monday at the Ward Federal Building in Winston-Salem. Though he has not been convicted of any crime, officials denied permission for him to be interviewed.
Omer A. Omer, a program manager for a group that helps African immigrants, said that many who hope to immigrate to the United States don't tell the full truth on visa applications.
"They know if they disclose everything they won't be allowed in," said Omer A. Omer, who is not related to Jamal Omer. "That doesn't make them terrorists."
"We understand that these are sensitive times," Omer A. Omer said. "But if you knew (Hamed) you would know that he is not involved with those people (in al-Qaida). We believe this must be a horrible mistake, but if the evidence proves us to be wrong, we will be the first to condemn him."