(DEARBORN, MI) — A Lebanese man from Dearborn suspected in the deaths of two United Nations peacekeepers in 1980 has admitted that he entered the United States without proper documentation and agreed to return to his native Lebanon.
The Irish government suspects 71-year old Mahmoud Bazzi in the deaths of two of its soldiers assigned to United Nations peacekeeping duties in Lebanon. Bazzi is not charged with killing Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett and insists he had no involvement.
Bazzi’s attorney Karim Aljuni told the immigration court in Detroit on Monday that his client wants to return to Lebanon through a route that does not pass through Europe.
The government’s lawyer in the immigration case, Frank Ledda, said Bazzi’s deportation has nothing to do with the Irish allegations. He says the agreement was “simply designed to remove him from the United States.”
Bazzi and his attorney want to travel directly to Lebanon, but Ledda said “there is no direct route that we can travel by.”
Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the Associated Press that “the government hasn’t agreed to avoid any specific territory.”
It was not clear when Bazzi would leave the United States, but deportations usually take about 30 days, according to Aljuni. Homeland Security officials were holding him at the St. Clair County Jail. He was arrested in Dearborn in July.
Bazzi entered the country in 1994 and later gave false information in immigration proceedings that led officials to grant him permanent residence status in the United States, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.
The U.S. government said Bazzi was not honest about how he entered the country when he received asylum, Ajluni said. The Detroit Free Press said he apparently entered the country on someone else’s passport.
Immigration Judge David Paruch warned Bazzi that he would not be allowed to return for at least 10 years without permission from the U.S. government.
Bazzi’s wife and three daughters will remain in the United States.