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Terrorist deported to Sudan
Associated Press
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: News
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Khalid Al-Jawary, 63, was flown out of Denver International Airport on Thursday and arrived Tuesday in Khartoum, said Carl Rusnok, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.
Details of his deportation were released to The Associated Press after Al-Jawary's federal escorts had safely left the volatile country that has been a haven for terrorists such as Osama bin Laden.
Al-Jawary ended up in Sudan after Algeria initially agreed to accept him but then reversed course, setting off a scramble to find a country that would take the aging terrorist. It's unclear why Algeria decided against taking Al-Jawary.
Al-Jawary wanted to be deported to Jordan, where his family lives, but that country apparently would not allow him entry. Federal officials said he had dual citizenship with Jordan and Iraq.
Al-Jawary was released last week from the federal Supermax maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo., and placed in immigration officials' custody after serving about half of his 30-year sentence.
He was convicted in 1993 of planting the New York City bombs, which failed to detonate. His deportation came 36 years to the day after he placed bombs in two cars on Fifth Avenue and a third at JFK Airport timed to coincide with the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
He has always denied involvement in the bomb plot.
His true identity is a mystery. Al-Jawary claims his real name is Khaled Mohammed El-Jassem, and says he's a 61-year-old Palestinian refugee. The federal Bureau of Prisons had listed his age as 63.
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