SEATTLE, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- An Iraqi Kurd suspected of helping al-Qaida while living in Seattle has been ordered deported for lying on his political asylum application.
Sam Malkandi, 47, has been jailed at a federal detention center since August when he was arrested for fraudulently obtaining immigration benefits for himself and his family. Monday, federal Immigration Judge Kenneth Josephson ruled that Malkandi, lied on his 1998 application for asylum when he said he was jailed for possessing banned religious and political books.
Although he has been investigated by the FBI since at least 2002, he has not been charged with any terror-related crime, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer report Wednesday.
However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators claim Malkandi tried to help the former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, Tawfiq bin Attash, obtain a U.S. visa.
Malkandi insists he wasn't aware of Attash's al-Qaida connection, and said he was only trying to help the man into the country to have a prosthesis fitted for a missing leg.
Malkandi's lawyer said an appeal will be filed within 30 days.
