ACLU seeks release of ex-Hawthorne resident being held in the United Arab Emirates

Naji Hamdan, a U.S. citizen, was arrested three months ago on the United States' behalf, the group's lawsuit alleges.

By Raja Abdulrahim

November 20, 2008

The American Civil Liberties Union petitioned the U.S. government Wednesday for the release of a U.S. citizen who, the group alleges, has been under FBI scrutiny for years and has been imprisoned without charge in the United Arab Emirates for three months.

Naji Hamdan, 42, a former Hawthorne resident, was arrested Aug. 29 by Emirates state police at the request of the U.S. government, effectively putting Hamdan in U.S. custody, says the writ of habeas corpus filed by the ACLU in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

The ACLU hopes the lawsuit will compel the government to admit it was involved in Hamdan's detention and will lead to his release, said Ahilan Arulanantham of the ACLU.

Hamdan was arrested in the Emirates three weeks after two FBI agents flew from Los Angeles to the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi to question him, according to the lawsuit and Hamdan's brother, Hossam Hemdan, who spells his last name differently.

Arulanantham, director of immigrants' rights and national security for the ACLU of Southern California, said that the FBI had a years-long history of questioning and detaining Hamdan and that the State Department was slow to meet with him in the Emirates.

He said those pointed to U.S. involvement in Hamdan's imprisonment.

"We are confident about it because of the pattern," Arulanantham said.

FBI officials would not comment on the lawsuit and would not say whether the bureau had questioned Hamdan in the past.

"In terrorism matters, we routinely work with foreign counterparts, and in some cases, with the permission of the host government, FBI agents have been permitted to interview people who may possess relevant information. Being interviewed by the FBI does not mean the person is in U.S. custody," said an FBI statement released this week. "The FBI does not ask foreign nations to detain U.S. citizens on our behalf in order to circumvent their rights."

A State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs spokeswoman, citing privacy concerns, would not say whether the U.S. government was involved in Hamdan's current detention or whether officials were seeking his release.

The spokeswoman would confirm only that a U.S. citizen was in custody in the Emirates. She said a consular officer had met with the citizen on Oct. 19.

Richard Olson, U.S. ambassador to the Emirates, and the U.S. consulate sent letters to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Hamdan's wife, Mona Mallouk, confirming that a U.S. consul met with Hamdan while he was in custody and planned to meet with him again, according to court documents.

"There have not been any charges filed against Mr. Hamdan at this time," Consul R. Sean Cooper wrote to Waters' office on Nov. 5. "This extended detention, while very unusual from our American perspective, does not run counter to the laws of the United Arab Emirates."

Hamdan, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, lived in the Hawthorne area for two decades before he moved with his wife and children to the Emirates in 2006 to expand his business. He still has an auto-parts business -- Honda Acura Palace on 55th Street in Los Angeles -- and occasionally returns to the area. His brother lives nearby.

Hamdan's brother and the ACLU contend that in 2007, when Hamdan returned to Los Angeles to check on his business, the FBI kept him under surveillance. The year before, when Hamdan tried to board a flight at Los Angeles International Airport, he was detained and questioned for several hours before being released, according to the ACLU. He was also questioned in 1999 at his home.

Hamdan visited his family in Lebanon this summer, but when he tried to return to the Emirates, he was arrested by Lebanese government police and interrogated for four days, his brother said.

Hamdan served on the board of trustees of the Islamic Center of Hawthorne. The center's president, Ahmed Azam, described Hamdan as "a well-known and well-respected man."

Mallouk, Hamdan's wife, has gone to Lebanon with their three children to stay with relatives.

"I am so scared for my husband. We are Americans, but the U.S. government won't tell us why he is arrested and when he will be released," she said in an ACLU statement.

Abdulrahim is a Times staff writer.