JEDDAH, 6 November — A number of Saudi citizens arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the Sept. 11 terror attacks are still behind bars in the United States although they have yet to be charged with any crime, according to an attorney appointed by the Kingdom’s embassy in Washington to defend them in the courts.
"The US authorities have continued to arrest Saudi citizens. Indeed, over the past few days the arrests have become more frequent," Okaz daily quoted the attorney, Mudathar Siddiqui, as saying.
He did not specify how many Saudi citizens are in detention.
"The precise number of the detainees are not known. America is a vast country. Contrary to the regulations, police in certain states have not been informing the embassy about Saudi citizens they have arrested," the attorney added.
Siddiqui claimed that all the arrested Saudis were innocent and expected that they would be released in the near future.
The Los Angeles Times reported recently that 1,147 people, most of whom are of Middle Eastern origin, have been arrested and detained in US prisons without charge in the wake of the devastating Sept. 11 attacks.
The newspaper also reported many human rights violations by federal investigators, using during interrogation.
US authorities have even jailed without charge a sick Saudi who had traveled to the US for a kidney transplant.
