RIYADH, 9 January — Twenty-year-old Muhammad Fahd Al-Shammary says his dreams of learning to be a pilot were dashed following the tyrannical approach of the FBI agents and prison officials in the United States during the post-Sept. 11 scenario in which his whole world was turned upside down.
All this because he was a Saudi passport holder. Following the attacks on America and the instantaneous sweep for suspects, Al-Shammary was one of the many Arabs who were taken in for questioning by the investigating agencies in the United States.
He was taken in for a violation that would have entailed a few dollars in fine, but he had to suffer cuffs, threats, humiliations, derogatory statements and 42 days in jail before being released and returning home. Upon his return, Al-Shammary dumped his ambitions of being trained as a pilot in the United States.
"I graduated from secondary school in Al-Khafji in 1998. My only ambition was to become a pilot. My father encouraged me and offered to meet all the expenses. I went to Jordan and obtained a private pilot’s license," he said.
But I found that this was not enough to join the national airline. "I learned that after completing the course successfully in Jordan, I would need a degree in aeronautical sciences to be considered for a post in Saudia. Hence I enrolled myself in the Aeronautical Training Academy in Florida (ATA)," he said.
"There I completed 150 hours, including a course in English language. After that I pursued my studies at a branch of the Texas Academy as the cost at ATA was prohibitive. I competed 270 hours in the Texas Academy, and qualified for a pilot’s license for single-engined planes," he added.
"After that I joined the course for twin-engined planes (commercial flights). It required 50 hours. But I could complete only 42 hours when the attacks in the US took place on Sept. 11, 2001. Because of that all our training stopped and all our hopes were dashed," he said.
"The climate following the attacks was oppressive, and I remained in my room, venturing out only when necessary. We were hoping for a quick return to normalcy, but we were mistaken in our beliefs. After three days the FBI officials came to our room and questioned us for an hour, searched the whole house and examined our passports," he said.
"Another team took over the examination the next day and they showed me Osama Bin Laden’s photo and of the other suspects involved in the terror attacks. They asked me about the source of my income for my studies, and why I had picked the United States for my studies, while also seeking to find out whether I had any links with Al-Qaeda or any of the suspects and how far did I support the strikes on the US," he added.
"I told them that my father has been working very hard to pay for my studies in the US, and I have all the records of the remittances. I’m shocked at the strikes on the US and I do not have any links with Al-Qaeda nor with any of the suspected hijackers of the planes," he said.
"The third team of investigators came in the early hours of Sept. 26 and they arrested me on charges of a violation of immigration rules (expiry of special card for entry), though my entry visa was still valid. And none of the agents asked me to get it renewed as it can be done in matter of minutes at the INS. It was a routine matter and nobody used to check it. However, the officials had said that I would be taken to court and fined," he added.
"Because of my desire to complete the remaining hours of my training, which required only two weeks, in order to get my pilot’s license, I was very much worried. But the assurances of the American agents allayed my fears, and one of them led me handcuffed to his car as the neighbors and friends watched," he said.
"I was taken to the INS jail, where I remained for eight hours. I was given papers to extend my stay and to transfer me to the court and from there to the Bedford prison. All the while I endured discomfort with the hope that I would be taken to the court soon. But I was sent to a common jail in Danton in a bus," he added.
"The treatment meted out to me in this period was humiliating. I was asked to wear a prisoner’s uniform and put among traffickers and murderers. It was a terrifying experience, but I managed to get through this ordeal by observing regular prayers for peace of mind," he said.
"I was put in isolation for 32 days and the guard would taunt me while getting my meals saying that the meat being served was pork, while some other guards would put before me some messages such as ‘I’ll never forget Sept. 11’," he added.
"With a lawyer being appointed for us by the Saudi Embassy, things changed. I was taken to the court on the charge of illegal stay of more than a year and the court refused bail at the FBI’s request. Even my request to complete my studies from jail was denied and I was eventually deported," he said. "I was sent to the airport with a guard, who was given orders to shoot if I tried to escape," he added.
"My return to the Kingdom was like a breath of fresh air. I felt like a human being once again. Now I only hope to pursue my dream in some other place," he said.
