Muslim civil rights group seeks return of Va. man stuck in Egypt after FBI questioning

Muslim org seeks return of Va. man stuck in Egypt

WASHINGTON — A Muslim civil rights group called on the U.S. government Wednesday to allow a Virginia man stuck in Egypt for weeks to return home.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said 26-year-old Yahya Wehelie (yah-yah we-HEEL’-ee) was interrogated aggressively by FBI agents in Cairo and placed on a no-fly list. He and his brother Yusuf, 19, apparently attracted FBI attention after a long stay in Yemen.

Government agents allowed Yusuf, who says he was chained to a wall at an Egyptian police facility for several days, to return to the U.S. But his brother was not allowed to come back.

An Egyptian security official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media confirmed that there is a Somali-American stranded in Cairo waiting for his name to be lifted from a no-fly list.

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said the bureau does not comment on whether a particular person is on a watch list. While Bresson did not discuss the FBI’s interest in Wehelie, he did note several recent high-profile terror plots, including an attempted car bombing and a failed Christmas Day jetliner bombing, as reminders of the need to remain vigilant.

Associated Press Writers Adam Goldman in Washington and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.