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.