Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jul 2005
Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)
Copyright: 2005 The Gainesville Sun
Contact:  http://www.sunone.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/163
Author: The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

EGYPTIAN MAY BE DEPORTED OVER POT

The Man Was Listed As A Possible Terrorist Because He Was Overheard 
Allegedly Praising Bin Laden

The manager of a Middle Eastern restaurant, who was taken into 
custody because his name turned up on a terrorist watch list, is now 
facing deportation to his native Egypt because he bought a small 
amount of marijuana in 1999.

Police arrested Basuyouy Mamdouh Ebaid, 44, in February after they 
say he sold liquor to minors. Officers then ran his name through a 
computer database, which listed him as a possible terrorist because 
he was overheard allegedly praising al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden 
and suicide bombers.

Ebaid, who came to the United States 21 years ago on a student visa, 
has since been held at the Krome Detention Center and is facing a 
deportation hearing today. He applied for legal residency three years 
ago, but that's still pending.

He has not been charged with any terrorist-related crimes, but 
federal officials want him deported because he pleaded guilty in 1999 
in Miami- Dade Circuit Court to purchasing and possessing less than 
20 grams of marijuana for his personal use.

He was sentenced to time served, one day, and the judge withheld his 
conviction, so in the state's eye, he is not a felon.

But under federal law, the marijuana purchasing conviction is an 
aggravated felony, which means he can be deported.

"He is Egyptian, and I am Mexican," said Ebaid's wife, Maria Flores, 
who is a U.S. citizen. They have two children. "We chose this country 
to raise our children. My husband loves this country. What happened 
to him is terrible. It destroyed his reputation."

She denies that he ever praised terrorists.

Ebaid's lawyers are trying to stop his deportation to Egypt because 
they argue he would face persecution in his homeland after being 
branded as a "terrorist" in the United States.

"We're concerned this label subjects him to peril in Egypt, a country 
he has not seen in 20 years," said his attorney, Ralph Kenol.

Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement, said Sunday she could not comment on the case 
because it is pending litigation.
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