Six Iraqis detained on Mexican border
ASSOCIATED PRESS
7:33 p.m. March 29, 2005
MONTERREY, Mexico – Four Iraqis were detained at an airport in the
border city of Mexicali for allegedly carrying false passports, and
two more were caught at a highway checkpoint, authorities said
Tuesday.
The four Iraqis arrived Friday at the airport in Mexicali, across from
Calexico, California, on a flight from Mexico City and were detained
after immigration officials discovered the Dutch passports they were
carrying were false, said Abraham Sarabia, an attorney general
spokesman in Baja California state, where Mexicali is located.
Alya Kiryakous Dawood Sako, an American citizen and the sister of one
of the Iraqis, was also detained and questioned. Dawood was released
after immigration officials determined her passport was legitimate but
she was turned to immigration officials and is awaiting deportation,
Sarabia said.
Sarabia said immigration officials noticed the men became nervous
during routine questioning and once in custody of federal authorities
they confessed their true identities.
The men were carrying Dutch passports under the names of Richard
Richters, who Mexican officials say is Yacer Yoser Hana; Mikel Leewen,
who turned out to be Basam Kiryakous; Jan Pieter Drijfhout, who is
Basam Toma Jou and Robert Schurtman, whose real name is Sabham Kamel.
"Once in custody they told authorities they intended to sneak into the
United States," Sarabia said. "They said they started their journey in
Greece, traveled to Spain and then to Mexico City."
The men were being held at a prison in Mexicali pending charges for
using false documents.
Also Tuesday, soldiers detained two Iraqi men traveling on Greek
passports at a roadside checkpoint near Mexicali.
The two men were traveling aboard a bus bound for Mexicali. However,
the photo on one of the men's passport's had been altered; he was also
held pending charges, while the other man was held pending
deportation.
Mauricio Juarez, a spokesman with the Migration Institute, said none
of the men appear on terrorist watch lists.
It was not clear whether the Iraqis were linked to the Chaldean
Christians, who have a sizable community in Southern California and
frequently try to enter the United States through Mexico, claiming
they face persecution in Iraq.
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