Saddam Hussein's son arrested in Miami???

[Larry_OHF]

Mohammad Nour al-Din Saffi, 36, a citizen of New Zealand who once worked as a flight engineer for Air New Zealand, was arrested Wednesday night in Miami because he entered the country on a tourist visa, rather than a student visa, on his way to attend flight school.

He was being held Thursday at the INS's Krome Detention Center in Miami.

Samira Shabandar, Saffi's mother and one of Hussein's two wives, refused to comment on the case when contacted by CNN.

According to Jim Goldman, lead INS investigator in Miami, Saffi told immigration officials he was going to take a four-day "refresher" course for flight engineers in Miami.

In fact, officials said, he intended to attend a four-day aviation course at Miami's Aeroservice Aviation Center -- the same flight school used by a September 11 hijacker -- to re-certify his license to fly Boeing 747s.

"He certainly didn't disclose his purpose for coming to this country when he was admitted by U.S. immigration at the Los Angeles International Airport -- it was only learned after the fact -- and that unto itself rendered him deportable from the United States," Goldman said.

"We verified his intent by going to the flight school and determining that in fact he was enrolled and was scheduled to begin these courses this week."

The United States tightened visa requirements for those attending American flight schools following the September 11 attacks. Several of the hijackers attended flight schools in Florida.

Aeroservice Aviation Center was attended by Ziad Jarrah, who was among the hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela.

Saffi raised two other red flags upon his entry into the country, the INS source said.

The first was his relationship to Hussein. The second was that Saffi was last in the United States on September 7 -- four days before the attacks -- when he was passing through on his way to London.

"All of the circumstances involved are pretty disturbing," Goldman said.

The INS source expects Saffi to be deported within the next few days.

A U.S. government source said the aviation school checked Saffi's immigration status, in accordance with government regulations, on a Justice Department Web site and he was cleared.

Saffi also presented immigration officials with an FAA document certifying him as a flight engineer, but investigators were trying to determine the certificate's authenticity because it contained a different spelling of his name.

Saffi is no longer employed as a flight engineer for Air New Zealand in Auckland and has been trying to get a job with an air cargo company in New Zealand, the government source said.

A former U.S. government expert on the Persian Gulf told CNN that Saffi is the son of Samira Shabandar and Iraqi airline executive Nour al-Din al-Saffi, her husband at the time.

Saddam Hussein had an affair with Shabandar in the 1980s and Hussein persuaded her husband to divorce her so they could marry. Saffi was then promoted to the head of the airline, the expert said.

Hussein did not divorce his first wife when he married Shabandar, who is considered his second wife. Hussein has five children with his first wife, two boys and three girls. He has one child with Shabandar.

Some of Samira's brothers were close to Hussein in a friendship sense during the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to the expert.

Mohammed Saffi left Iraq after the Persian Gulf War, traveling first to Jordan, then to New Zealand.

It is unclear what other links Saffi might have to Hussein.

Goldman said Saffi entered the country Monday at Los Angeles International Airport. When interviewed by the FBI, he said he was on a layover before flying to Miami for the 747 re-certification class, Goldman said.

Following the interview, the FBI contacted INS officials in Miami to tell them Saffi was headed their way. Agents arrested him at a hotel near the Miami flight school.

quoted from CNN

[ 07-05-2002, 01:37 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Megabot]

Shoot the guy!!

[johnny]

It's his stepson, he prolly won't even miss him, he has hundreds of em !

[Loumistro]

I say we strap him in a plane and make in crash in sudam's home well at least one of them.

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

thats nasty... I mean the guys done nothing to you, if you kill him purely becasue hes related to that guy, it doesnt make you any better then him... of course, they *could* use him as a bargining chip... but as johhny pointed out, he'd probably not miss him.

[Horatio]

Just keep him under close inspection. If you blow his brains over the White House, then Daddy will have something far worse than a cold ready to deliver. Anthrax letters, anyone?

[caleb]

Saddam wouldnt do crap. That would just give us the excuse we need to finally kill him. Anyways this guy is innocent until proven guilty

[Horatio]

caleb, there have been countless secret operations to kill Suddam. All the hitmen that have tried have been beheaded.
You up for the job?

[Scholarcs]

He his Saddams stepson, not direct son. There was a big argument about this in NZ after 11/9. Apparently also he has been estranged from relatives in the mid-east, and has been making a living by honest work in NZ.

[johnny]

You're right Scholarcs, he lives in NZ for about ten years now and he has a normal job like many other people. Only problem is, he didn't have the right papers to be in the US. Considdering the fact he IS Saddams son, he might be in trouble !