FBI: Approach Missing Egyptians with Caution (UPDATE: see post # 685)

ABCNews ^ | 08/08/06 | Brian Ross

[Rte66]

Ha! Now we're hearing from the parents ....

~~~~~
" .... [snip] They were among a group of 18 students from Mansoura University, located in Egypt's northern Nile Delta. The other seven students from the group reported for the program on English Language and U.S. History in Bozeman, Montana.

Egyptian security officials said they believe the 11 students, who had no criminal records or known ties to Islamic militants, decided to abandon their studies and seek work in the U.S. Egyptian police were not pursuing the issue, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The father of Eslam El-Dessouki, the student arrested in Minnesota, said his son likely wanted to try to find work.

"America is something super. It must have been in his mind to stay where there are plenty of job opportunities. You know how much a dollar is worth here in Egypt," said Ibrahim el-Dessouki, a retired army officer living in the village of Sinbelawan, near Mansoura. He said he spoke to his son when he arrived in the States but not since.

After hearing reports about a terror plot foiled in London, el-Dessouki became worried that American authorities might think his son was involved. "Will he be fine? Will they torture him?" he said.

U.S. authorities have said the missing students are not suspected of any connection to the London plot.

The students arrived in the U.S. on July 29, and when they did not report to the school, Montana State repeatedly tried to contact them. When that failed, the school notified Homeland Security officials and registered the Egyptians as "no-shows" in the system developed after the Sept. 11 attacks to track foreign students.

The sister of another of the students -- 18-year-old Mustafa Wagdi, who is still missing -- said she spoke to him on the day he arrived in Egypt and a second time five days ago.

He assured her "that he is OK and he is living with his colleagues," but he did not say where, the sister said in a phone interview from Mansoura. She refused to give her name because of worries of trouble with Egyptian security services over the incident.

The sister was quoted in the Egyptian press as saying her brother had told her over the phone that he would stay in the U.S. to find work. Speaking to The Associated Press, she denied making those comments, saying she didn't know what he was doing.

But she added that if her brother had decided to look for work, "I know that it's wrong to do, but everybody does it."
....
Illegal emigration is very common in Egypt, where rising unemployment and inflation prompt young men to seek jobs in the West. Many Egyptians are returned home on weekly flights from Malta, Cyprus, or Greece after failing to sneak through borders to Europe.

Mansoura University required each student in the group heading to Montana to sign a piece of paper promising to return home on schedule and "represent Egypt in a good manner" while in the United States. The university has said it will expel the students who disappeared.

According to the families, each student paid around 25,000 L.E., equivalent to $4,500 dollars, to participate in the program.

The mother of Mohammed Ragab Abdullah, 22, who surrendered in Manville, N.J., was furious her son had slipped away, saying her husband paid "lots and lots of money."

But the elder el-Dessouki said it was worth the investment, given the bribes some have to pay to find government jobs in Egypt.

"A cleaning worker in a ministry paid 6,000 pounds ($1,050) to get a job," he said. "So it's not strange to pay 25,000 L.E. to get my only son a chance to go to the States."
[snip] ... "
~~~~~

>>>>Note that this story claims there were *18* total students and that 7 had checked in at MSU in Bozeman. I hope they're just wrong about this, since it was originally *17* students, with 6 checking in at MSU.

Let's hope it's not *18* originally, *6* checked in and *12* really missing, instead of *11*!

[milford421]

Thanks for the latest info on this.

I can't believe the stuff they keep trying to peddle.

[NormsRevenge]

6 down , 5 to go

Numbers 1, 3 and 6 are now also in custody.

5, 7, 9, 10 and 11 remain at large.

1. IBRAHIM, EL SAYED AHMED ELSAYED; DOB OF 4/29/1986, PASSPORT 954757
2. EL DESSOUKI, ESLAM IBRAHIM MOHAMED; DOB OF 02/21/1985, PASSPORT 1002756 - CAPTURED
3. EL BAHNASAWI, ALAA ABD EL FATTAH ALI; DOB OF 04/02/1986, PASSPORT 934679
4. ABD ALLA, MOHAMED RAGAB MOHAMED; DOB OF 02/15/1984, PASSPORT 860972 - CAPTURED
5. EL LAKET, AHMED REFAAT SAAD EL MOGHAZI; DOB OF 09/01/1986, PASSPORT 943306
6. EL ELA, AHMED MOHAMED MOHAMED ABOU; DOB OF 02/02/1985, PASSPORT 595081
7. EL MOGHAZY, MOHAMED IBRAHIM ELSAYED; DOB OF 08/08/1986, PASSPORT 861073
8. ABDOU, EBRAHIM MABROUK MOUSTAFA; DOB OF 02/25/1984, PASSPORT 828682 - CAPTURED
9. EL GAFARY, MOUSTAFA WAGDY MOUSTAFA; DOB OF 07/01/1988, PASSPORT 861673
10. MARAY, MOHAMED SALEH AHMED; DOB OF 09/12/1985, PASSPORT 862634
11. EL SHENAWY, MOHAMED IBRAHIM FOUAAD; DOB OF 08/12/1988, PASSPORT 862534

[madison10]

"Student rescued" from what or whom? Themselves?

[doberville]

What does that mean?

[BookaT]

Ok thanks for all your insightful replys to my first post. But Every one of you missed my point.

I stated that they "SHOULD" stick out like sore thumbs. My stress was on the word "SHOULD."

The problem with the USA right now is that they don't. Like so many of the "Huh?, Where do you live in Montana?, Not in the City, There are thousands of them in the cities, Huh?, WTF(which is totally uncalled for when replying to a Freeper in my opinion)" and other colorful replies I got, I too believe this is a problem.

My point was that we or someone has left the melting pots doors open far too long. We basically have the same racial make up now as Puerto Rico(looks wise).

I am not happy that we have thousands of people that these criminals can hide among and not be seen.

The people that are abetting them KNOW that they are being looked for and are not turning them in are also criminals.

To make a short story long. They "Should" have been seen or "rescued(That deserves a WTF?) by now. But the fact they can blend in so well means we are possibly in trouble and don't even know it.