Muslims Turned Away After Fla. Scare
By TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press Writer

September 15, 2002, 12:41 PM EDT

MIAMI -- The Miami hospital where three Muslim medical students were
headed before they were detained in a 17-hour terror scare on a Florida
highway says they aren't welcome there anymore. 

The head of Larkin Community Hospital said Sunday he had received more
than 200 e-mails after the incident, some of them threatening. 

"Obviously, nothing is final," said Dr. Jack Michel, president and chief
executive officer of Larkin. "Our primary objective is to take care of
patients. I don't know how that could be done with all this media
coverage." 

He said the men's medical school, Ross University, had agreed to
transfer them to a different training program and that they might be
welcome at Larkin later. 

The three students scheduled a news conference Sunday afternoon with
their attorneys and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 

Ayman Gheith, 27, Kambiz Butt, 25, both from suburban Chicago, and Omar
Choudhary, 23, of Independence, Mo., were on their way from Chicago to
Larkin for a nine-week medical training program. They said they had
completed their training at Ross, on the Caribbean island of Dominica,
and wanted to find an apartment in Miami. 

The men had reached Interstate 75, the main east-west route through the
Everglades, early Friday when Florida authorities pulled them over. An
alert had been issued for their cars after a woman said she overheard
one of the men at a Georgia restaurant make "alarming" statements
including saying Americans "mourned on 9/11 and they are going to mourn
again on 9/13." 

Authorities shut down the interstate and, with news helicopters hovering
overhead, searched the men's two vehicles, dragging their clothing onto
the highway with robots, but found nothing. 

Seventeen hours later, the men were released. No charges were filed. 

Altaf Ali, of the Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, at first said he was considering legal action against the
hospital for violating the students' civil rights. But he decided to
hold off after Michel agreed to meet with him Sunday and discuss the
issue. 

Michel said he agreed to meet with Ali, but said no time had been
scheduled. 

"I implored him to not make a hasty decision yet," Ali said. "I
reiterated to him we cannot succumb to pressure based on hate. If he is
receiving hate and hostile e-mails, we can't succumb to that kind of
intimidation." 

Michel said his decision was not based on the threatening e-mails. 

"The last thing I need is for my nurses and physicians is to be worried
about being interviewed and losing track of our primary function,"
Michel said. 

Gheith is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Jordan, Choudhary is a U.S.
citizen born in Detroit, and Butt is in the United States on a visa. 

"The situation used to be Americans are innocent until proven guilty.
Now it's the other way around," Choudhary's father, Javed, said in
Sunday's South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "And even after you're proven
innocent, some people like the CEO are not accepting that. It's
extremely prejudiced and unfair." 

He said he hoped Ross University administrators would find other
arrangements for his son and his friends so they can continue their
medical training. 
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

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