Terror suspect freed in Mexico

2005-06-23 09:53

Cabo San Lucas - Mexico on Wednesday cleared a Lebanese-born, British citizen of wrongdoing, setting him free mere days after his arrest because of suspected links to September 11 terror groups.

Amer Haykel was detained in the western state of Baja California Sur on Monday, because United States authorities provided information that he was linked to extremist groups believed to be involved with terrorist attacks.

But in a statement released late on Wednesday night, Mexico's National Immigration Institute said it had confirmed that Haykel "doesn't represent any threat to national security, nor is wanted by authorities in any country."

Transferred to Mexico City after his arrest, the statement said Haykel's detention had come to an end, and Mexican newspapers and television stations reported he had been freed in the capital.

The immigration communique said Haykel was detained based on "an exchange of information with US authorities" and "in the context of a strategy of border security between Mexico and the United States, based on the minimisation of risks for national security of both countries." It went on to say, however, that he posed no threat to either country.

Before his arrest, Haykel spent several days in the tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas, sleeping in a local fire station, according to those who met him. He told acquaintances he was a pilot who was wandering the world on a tight budget.

Haykel was arrested at the volunteer fire station of Todos Santos, a small town on the Pacific coast about 60km northwest of Cabo San Lucas that is known as a haven for US expatriates.

The state office of the federal attorney general's office said Haykel - reportedly born September 18 1959 - had spent time in the Cancun area on the Caribbean before coming to northwestern Mexico, initially to the state of Sonora and then across the Gulf of California to Baja California Sur.

Officials have long expressed concerns that terrorists might use Mexico or Central America to stage an attack on the United States.

Central American officials have reported several alleged terrorist sightings or concerns - including the theory that terrorists were recruiting from the region's violent gangs.

- AP