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September 18, 2005
Egypt-born illegal arrested with Pilot's Uniform
Here is an interesting article in Friday's Washington Post about Mahmoud Maawad, a 29-year engineering student who overstayed his visa and, oh yeah, purchased a pilot's uniform and $3000 worth of airplane-related DVDs including "How an Airline Captain should look and act" and "Mastering GPS flying." He was not studying aviation. He arrested by the FBI in Memphis when the DVD distribution outfit did not get its bill paid promptly and called a special agent to fret about its suspicions. (Thanks for the patriotism, guys, but how suspicious would you have been if Mahmoud had paid up?) Could it be an innocent hobby of Mahmoud's? Yes. Does he fit the al Qaeda profile? Unclear. Not paying bills does fit the profile. If he turns out to be married, have an upper-middle class family, not very religious, and spending a lot of time with a small clutch of Muslim friends, then yes, he (strangely) would fit the profile. And, even if he does not and is not connected to terrorism, he will most likely be deported. Under Ashcroft and now under Gonzalez, the U.S. Justice Dept. has a "zero tolerance" toward immigration violations. Sorry Mahmoud.
Posted by Richard Miniter at September 18, 2005 03:15 PM