Lewis Alsamari (born 1976) is an Iraqi actor based in the United Kingdom.

Career

Alsamari has appeared in episodes of television series such as '' Spooks'' and ''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

''. In 2006 he starred in the

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

film '' United 93'' as the terrorist

Saeed al-Ghamdi Saeed Abdullah Ali Sulayman al-Ghamdi (; 21 November 1979 11 September 2001) was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of four terrorist hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 as part of the 11 September attacks. Despite his name, he was n ...

. Alsamari was reported to have been denied a

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

by American immigration authorities when he applied to visit New York City to attend the premiere of ''United 93''. The reason reportedly given was that he had once been a

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

member of the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

– although this was also the grounds for his refugee status after his

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

in 1993. Other sources say that he applied late for his visa and that it was not denied. Alsamari was featured in the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

Fringe production of "What I Heard About Iraq", based on the

Eliot Weinberger Eliot Weinberger (born 6 February 1949 in New York City) is an American writer, essayist, editor, and translator. He is primarily known for his essays and political articles, the former characterized by their wide-ranging subjects and experimental ...

article of the same name that originally appeared in the London Review of Books in 2005.Samarrai's Website

Filmography

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samari, Lewis 1976 births Living people British people of Iraqi descent English male film actors English male stage actors Iraqi male television actors Iraqi refugees Iraqi emigrants to the United Kingdom Iraqi male film actors