WASHINGTON/JEDDAH, 15 August 2006 — The last two of the 11 Egyptian exchange students who failed to show up at their college program were apprehended Sunday in Richmond, Va., customs officials said.

“None of the students is considered a terrorism risk,” official said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Mohamed Saleh Ahmed Maray, 20, and Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad El Shenawy, 17, at an apartment building in Richmond on Sunday night.

Virginia State Police and the Richmond Police helped locate the students.

Egyptian expatriates in Jeddah had mixed reactions to the incident. Mabrouk Al-Najjar, an Egyptian insurance agent in Jeddah, said the move would discourage Egyptian families from sending their children to the US for higher studies.

“They will now think of sending them to other countries, such as Japan and China, where milder regulations are applied. It’s time we think of other countries,” Al-Najjar told Arab News.

Adil Al-Haizawi, a legal consultant, said Egyptian students going to the US should engage only in studies. They should not use the opportunity to get job or win residency, which is against the law. He said students should also familiarize themselves with US law before going to the country.

Egyptian journalist Shakir Abdul Aziz, whose children are studying in the US, said the move to blacklist and arrest students who disappear from their educational institutions for certain days would affect the education of foreign students in the country. He urged American authorities to apply the law after studying case by case, instead of suspecting everybody.

Emad Abdul Aziz, an accountant who was planning to send his children to the US, said the new American action would force him to change his decision. He criticized the negative attitude of US authorities toward Arab and Muslim students.

Last Wednesday, one of the Egyptian students was arrested in Minneapolis and two were detained in Manville, N.J. On Thursday, two were arrested in Dundalk, Md., and one was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Three more were arrested Friday in Des Moines, Iowa. The students were to attend a month-long program at Montana State University in Bozeman. A group of 17 students arrived in New York on July 29. Six reported to Bozeman on time.

After Montana State repeatedly tried to contact the missing students, it notified Homeland Security Department officials and registered the Egyptians as no-shows in a system to track foreign students developed after 9/11.

— with input from agencies