Hani Abdel Rahim Hussein al-Sayegh ( ar, هاني عبد الرحيم الصائغ) is a Saudi citizen, and alleged member of Hezbollah Al-Hejaz and accused of involvement in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing.Depalma, Anthony. New York Times
Saudi case casting a light on how militants infiltrate and exploit Canada
May 4, 1997 He was one of 14 people subjected to extraordinary rendition by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

prior to the 2001 declaration of a War on Terror. Although he appeared to be innocent, American officials released a falsified account of his interrogations and deported him back to Saudi Arabia, where it was presumed he faced

beheading Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

. Despite the lack of evidence against him, Hani Al-Sayegh was one of the individuals named later in an indictment issued by the US Justice Department

Life

As a young man, al-Sayegh had joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but following a "particularly disastrous exercise" where his asthma interfered, he was told to leave the corps. He left Saudi Arabia in August 1995, and moved to Iran where he studied, and then Kuwait.

IPS IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle * Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells * Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique * Intraparietal sulcus ...

US Officials Leaked a False Story Blaming Iran
'' New York Times''
US deports Saudi in airmen's bombing deaths
October 12, 1999 In August 1996, after traveling through Rome and Boston, al-Sayegh arrived in Canada where he applied for

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

and permanent resident status, while living in Ottawa. He claimed to belong to a minority Shi'ite group, and that he and his brother Mohamed had both been tortured by Saudi officials.

Arrest

The 28-year-old al-Sayegh was arrested in a grocery store in March 1997, and hired immigration lawyer Douglas M. Baum to defend himself.Claffey, Mike.

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

FBI wants to question Saudi in deadly 1996 US air base bombing
, March 23, 1997 Canada accused him of driving one of two vehicles which had accompanied the

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

, and had waved the bomber forward to indicate the

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

was safe to enter,Wright, Robin. Los Angeles Times, "Canada Arrested Saudi Too Soon, U.S. Officials Say; Mideast: Investigators contend that more could have been learned about deadly Dhahran blast had surveillance continued.", April 4, 1997 and sought to deport him. However, since al-Sayegh was a "frail" man suffering from frequent attacks of asthma, the accusation that he had been a

getaway driver A crime scene getaway is the act of :wikt:flee, fleeing the location where one has broken the law. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of ...

was criticised. The evidence against him was based largely on a meeting, believed to have occurred two years before the bombing, between Sayegh and

Ahmad Sherifi Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...

a senior Iranian intelligence officer also accused. al-Sayegh argued that he had been studying in Iran for four years, including during the time the bombing took place, and that his phonecall to the Iranian embassy on the day the attacks was simply to help a friend obtain a visa. The United States stated that despite early excitement, it did not appear to have enough evidence to extradite al-Sayegh.Shenon, Philip. New York Times
Foreign role in 96 Saudi bombing unproven
April 5, 1997 They also criticised Canada, stating that the arrest actually foiled surveillance efforts that would have been more fruitful. Canada issued a security certificate to deport him, but sent him to the United States rather than Saudi Arabia, since

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Janet Reno had granted an exception allowing him into the country for the sole sake of prosecution. However, he expressed confusion at the transfer, upon arrival, claiming to know nothing about Khobar and not understanding why the Americans sought him. In June, al-Sayegh agreed to a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

whereby he would plead guilty to an unrelated incident, after confessing he had suggested bombing an AWACS plane that had been transferred to the Saudi air force. However, he backed out of the agreement the following month, and the United States moved to drop all charges against him. Washington Times, "U.S. moves to drop charges in Dhahran bombing case", September 9, 1997 Nevertheless, after being moved from Canada into the United States, he was deported back to Saudi Arabia on October 10, 1999 where it was assumed he would be executed upon arrival.Terrorist organizations with links to Canada chart a lengthy course, National Post, Jan 13, 1999 In Saudi Arabia, he was held

incommunicado Incommunicado, from the Spanish incomunicado, means "cut off from contact", "impossible to reach". It may also refer to: *''Incommunicado'', an album by Alex Smoke * "Incommunicado" (song), a 1987 single by Marillion * Solitary confinement, one o ...

Al-Ha'ir Prison Al-Ha'ir Prison, ( ar, سجن الحاير also known as al-Hayer al-Hayar or al-Haer), is a Saudi Arabian political, maximum-security, Mabahith-affiliated prison located approximately 25 miles south of Riyadh. It is the largest prison complex in ...

for ten days, before his wife and children were allowed to visit him in prison.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

Hani al-Sayegh, deported, detained, denied basic rights
April 23, 2000 In June 2001, the US Department of Justice issued an indictment accusing several alleged members of the Hezbollah for involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing which included the name of Hani Al-Sayegh, despite the fact that charges against him had been dropped and he had been returned to Saudi Arabia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayegh, Hani al- Prisoners and detainees of Canada Prisoners and detainees of Saudi Arabia People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States People deported from Canada People deported from the United States Possibly living people Date of birth missing Year of birth missing Place of birth missing