US seeks to force feed pilot it tricked, detained

[Major Variola (ret)]

U.S. Seeks Force-Feeding Order for Fasting Detainee in Phoenix
Courts: The unusual step involves a Middle Eastern pilot protesting his
jailing in a dragnet. He
faces identity fraud charges.

http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000097083dec06.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation

                    By RICH CONNELL, TIMES STAFF WRITER

                    Federal prosecutors in Phoenix are asking a judge to
issue an unusual
                    order to force-feed a hunger-striking Middle Eastern
pilot arrested on
                    charges stemming from the investigation of the Sept.
11 terrorism
                    attacks.

                    Malek Mohamed Seif, also known as Malek Mohamed
Abdulah, is
                    protesting what he contends is his improper
detention as part of the
                    global anti-terrorism dragnet.

                                                            Taking only
                                                            liquids,
Seif has
                                                            lost 30
pounds
                                                            since his
October
                                                            arrest and
is
                                                            rapidly

deteriorating,
                                                            officials
said. Seif,
                                                            36, believed
to
                                                            be a
Djibouti
                                                            national,
has
                                                            acknowledged
a
                                                            passing
                                                            acquaintance
with
                                                            one of the
                                                            suspected
                                                            skyjackers.

                    He also trained at the same Phoenix area flight
school as an Algerian
                    pilot suspected of helping prepare some of the
hijackers, according to
                    federal investigative records.

                    But the only charges filed to date against Seif are
for identity fraud. A
                    federal judge recently stressed in a court order
that no evidence has
                    been presented linking him to terrorism.

                    Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is housing
Seif for federal
                    authorities, says he is getting worried about his
high-profile inmate. "I
                    don't want this guy to die in my jail," said the
no-frills lawman who
                    made headlines by housing prisoners in desert tents
and making them
                    wear pink shirts. Arpaio says he has been talking
with Seif, trying to
                    coax him to eat.

                    As a compromise, Arpaio said, he removed pork from
Seif's meals.
                    But he has declined to fill his special requests for
dates and ice water.
                    "I said, 'We don't have room service.' "
Seif's attorney, Thomas Hoidal, reported to a judge Monday that his
                    client was in the jail infirmary and too weak to
attend a hearing.

                    Seif, who left the U.S. before the attacks, has
complained that federal
                    investigators duped him into returning to answer
questions. After he
                    landed in Phoenix on Oct. 25, he was arrested for
allegedly making
                    false statements on federal forms to obtain dual
identities.

                    "He doesn't understand, when he came back
voluntarily, why he is
                    being treated in this fashion," said Hoidal, who
also is trying to
                    persuade Seif to eat.

                    Prosecutors expect to file additional bank and
financial fraud charges
                    against Seif and are worried he may be unfit to
stand trial. They are
                    seeking medical and psychiatric evaluations of Seif.

                    One veteran U.S. law enforcement official in Phoenix
said he knew of
                    no other instance when federal prosecutors there
sought a
                    forced-feeding order.

                    Sporadic hunger strikes have been reported among the
more than
                    1,000 detainees rounded up in the anti-terrorism
crackdown. But Seif,
                    who has dropped from about 180 to about 150 pounds,
appears to
                    have lasted the longest.

                    It is not clear whether Seif intends to fight the
forced feeding order, his
                    attorney said. A hearing is scheduled for today.
Arpaio doubts a
                    judge's order will be effective, as long as Seif
remains conscious. "If
                    he's still coherent . . . you can't force the guy to
eat if he says he
                    doesn't want to."

                    In another development Wednesday, a coalition of 16
civil liberties
                    groups filed suit against the Justice Department,
demanding information
                    about those arrested and detained since the Sept. 11
attacks. The groups said they were seeking
                    such information as the names of the detainees, the
charges against them and how long they have
                    been held.

                    Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft has argued that some of the
information must be kept secret to aid in the
                    investigation.

                    Kate Martin of the Center for National Security
Studies, a plaintiff in the case, said that instead of
                    federal officials "simply announcing that they are
respecting the Constitution, we need evidence that
                    will show whether that is true."