November 8, 2001
Detained man has ill daughter in Detroit
Donovon Vincent
Staff reporter
Toronto Star
A Yemeni man in jail hre, who was detained after his Chicago- bound flight landed at Peearson airport on September 11, was headed to Detroit to be with his sick daughter, the girl’s doctor says.
Dr. Achiau Ludomirsky wrote in a letter on behalf of Nageeb Al- Hadi that Al- Hadi has a 1- year- old daughter, Noof, in Detroit with a potentially life- threatening heart ailment and is awaiting the second phase of a sensitive two- part heart operation.
Al- Hadi was travelling with more than one pasdsport and two airline uniforms when he was arrested,
Ludomirsky, the attending pediatric cardiologist at the University of Michigan’s Congenital Heart Centre in Ann Arbor, Mich., is urging U.S. officials to let Al- Hadi, who remains in solidary confinement at the Metro West Detention Centre, join his family in Detroit.
“We understand that (Noof’s) father Nageeb Mohamed Al- Hadi is now in Canada. We are providing this letter to document the reason and necessity of his stya here,” says Ludomirsky’s letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Star.
“This letter is written on behalf of our patient, Noof, whom we follow because of complex congenital heart disease. She underwent the first stage of a two- stage reconstructive repair here in March, she wil undergo the second heart operation sometime in the next 12 to 15 months. Due to her serious heart problem, we recommend that her father join the family here instead of Noof and her mother returning to their country of origin, Yemen, which is why he was travelling to (the U.S.) on September 11, 2001,” Ludomirsky’s letter says.
In an interview, the cardiologist would only confirm that he wrote the letter on the child’s behalf, saying “We want to help this child as much as we can.” He declined to comment further, citing patient- doctor confidentiality.
Investigators have no officially accued Al- Hadi of being a terrorist. He was detained at Pearson airport after the Federal Aviation Authority closed all U.S. airports hours after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
At Pearson airport, Al- Hadi was found to be travelling with four passports, one in a different name, and someone else’s photograph. As well, two Lufthansa airline uniforms- a company he once worked for were found in his unclaimed luggage, luggage that was transported on a separate flight that landed at Chicago’s O’Hare airport September 11.
Al- Hadi’s lawyer, Gary Batasar, said he wants to get bail for his client, who he believes I guilty of nothing more than document fraud. Al- Hadi maintains he simply wanted to get into the U.S. to revive his green card status.