British Muslim threatens to sue the FBI
dissenting voice | 06.03.2002 19:14
The following article appeared in the Gloucestershire Echo, Cheltenham on March 5. How many other people have stories like this to tell? Being an ex-public schoolboy, Adeel Akhtar would probably have less difficulty to get his story published than the Guanatamo Camp prisoners. Who can confirm these people aren't victims of ethnic cleansing?
I'LL SUE FBI, SAYS MAN QUIZZED IN TERROR ALERT
A Cheltenham College old boy at the centre of an international terrorist scare wants to sue the FBI.
Adeel Akhtar was questioned about being an international terrorist after flying to New York.
Fighter jets were scrambled to shadow his flight because a security officer at Heathrow thought Adeel looked like a terror suspect.
The law student was led off the plane in handcuffs after touching down at JFK airport.
The 21-year-old, who was born in Britain and travels under a British passport, said he felt he had been singled out because he has a Muslim name.
A security scare on Thursday saw American and Canadian fighters scrambled to shadow the Air India Boeing 747 on which the Oxford Brookes University student was travelling.
Mr Akhtar, who left Cheltenham College in 1999, said: "I never play the racist card but the FBI have left me with no other option. I feel the story has to be told."
He said he and a friend were flying from Heathrow to New York for an audition with the New Actors' Studio in Greenwich Village.
Their passports were confiscated as they travelled through security at Heathrow and they were told they would get them back when they landed.
On arrival at JFK airport, the pair were led away by two FBI officers and Mr Akhtar, who was put in handcuffs, was questioned for three hours.
He said: "They started with general questions but then started asking about my friends and what I thought about September 11.
"My friend said she overheard one officer saying to another that I was the wrong person - but they carried on questioning me.
"They asked me if I had been to the Middle East and if I had any Muslim friends. I am a Muslim so, of course, I have Muslim friends.
"When they released us they said sorry to my friend, who is white and Irish. But they could not look me in the eye and say sorry."
Following his release, a US government official said a security screener in London thought Adeel looked like someone on a list of suspected terrorists and others who are not allowed on aeroplanes.
Adeel's family say they are considering suing the FBI for personal injury.
Nicholas Lowton, director of marketing at Cheltenham College, said: "Adeel Akhtar was a very successful student for five years at the college during which time his behaviour was exemplary."
In June 1999, Adeel was congratulated by the then headmaster Paul Chamberlain on the college's speech day, held at Cheltenham Town Hall. He won a prize for religious studies.
A Cheltenham College old boy at the centre of an international terrorist scare wants to sue the FBI.
Adeel Akhtar was questioned about being an international terrorist after flying to New York.
Fighter jets were scrambled to shadow his flight because a security officer at Heathrow thought Adeel looked like a terror suspect.
The law student was led off the plane in handcuffs after touching down at JFK airport.
The 21-year-old, who was born in Britain and travels under a British passport, said he felt he had been singled out because he has a Muslim name.
A security scare on Thursday saw American and Canadian fighters scrambled to shadow the Air India Boeing 747 on which the Oxford Brookes University student was travelling.
Mr Akhtar, who left Cheltenham College in 1999, said: "I never play the racist card but the FBI have left me with no other option. I feel the story has to be told."
He said he and a friend were flying from Heathrow to New York for an audition with the New Actors' Studio in Greenwich Village.
Their passports were confiscated as they travelled through security at Heathrow and they were told they would get them back when they landed.
On arrival at JFK airport, the pair were led away by two FBI officers and Mr Akhtar, who was put in handcuffs, was questioned for three hours.
He said: "They started with general questions but then started asking about my friends and what I thought about September 11.
"My friend said she overheard one officer saying to another that I was the wrong person - but they carried on questioning me.
"They asked me if I had been to the Middle East and if I had any Muslim friends. I am a Muslim so, of course, I have Muslim friends.
"When they released us they said sorry to my friend, who is white and Irish. But they could not look me in the eye and say sorry."
Following his release, a US government official said a security screener in London thought Adeel looked like someone on a list of suspected terrorists and others who are not allowed on aeroplanes.
Adeel's family say they are considering suing the FBI for personal injury.
Nicholas Lowton, director of marketing at Cheltenham College, said: "Adeel Akhtar was a very successful student for five years at the college during which time his behaviour was exemplary."
In June 1999, Adeel was congratulated by the then headmaster Paul Chamberlain on the college's speech day, held at Cheltenham Town Hall. He won a prize for religious studies.
dissenting voice
