DAMMAM, 14 December — A Dallas court has released a trainee Saudi pilot who was detained uncharged by the Federal Bureau of Investigations for 40 days and kept in isolation after the Sept. 11 events.
The trainee Muhammad Al-Shammari, son of an engineering cosultant in Khafji told Arab News that he was a trainee at the National Academy for Pilots in Dallas and was about to receive his pilot’s license. He was arrested six hours before he was to complete the required 320 hours for the license.
Al-Sahmmari said the Saudi Embassy played a leading role in having him released as he was also denied bail. He narrated the uncivilized and inhuman treatment he received at the hands of the US investigation officials. He was summoned by the police several times when they learned that he was a pilot trainee .
"When the investigators came to my apartment they discovered that my entry application had expired two months ago. They told me that the court will exempt me for one week after I paid a fine as I wanted to complete my course and get the license. In fact, I went to the court, which instead of extending my residence visa sent me to a jail 120 kilometers away from the city.
The investigators showed him several photographs including that of Osama Bin Laden and asked him to identify them. They also asked him about his Arab friends in the training academy and if he had suspected anyone having links with the terror attacks in New York and Washington. He was repeatedly harassed and humiliated and forced to eat pork. He was also asked to write to the US soldiers "we will never forget the Sept. 11 attack."
"I remained in the public jail for 10 days until I was transferred to another jail where I was kept in isolation for 30 days without any interrogation and the court did not fix the date of my case", Al-Shammari said.
He added that he was not even allowed to communicate with the outside world. "Finally, it was an American prisoner who arranged with his wife to inform a friend of mine about my whereabouts. It was this friend who informed my parents of where I was imprisoned."
After his release the US court also appointed a policeman to accompany the handcuffed Al-Shammari to the airport with orders to shoot him if he tried to move more than six feet from the policeman. "They did not even allow me to go to my apartment and take my clothes. My handcuffs were removed after I boarded the plane ready to leave for Jeddah. My accompanying policeman handed my passport to the flight attendant and ordered her to it hand to me after landing in Jeddah.
Al-Shammari now plans to continue his training in the Kingdom.
