By Allan Lengel
Deadline Detroit
DETROIT — Is Mahmoud Bazzi, 71, a Lebanese native who operates an ice cream truck in Dearborn, a war criminal?
Jim Schaefer of the Detroit Free Press headed to Ireland for a detailed report on the whole ordeal.
Schaefer reports that folks in Dublin say Bazzi was responsible for the murder in 1980 of Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett, who were part of the Irish Defense Forces working for the United Nations peace keeping forces in Lebanon. A third Irish private, John O’Mahony, was shot twice but survived.
Schaefer writes that there are two eye witnesses linking him to the murders. Bazzi, through interpreters, denies it all.
Schaefer reports that on Tuesday, U.S. Homeland Security officers arrested Bazzi at his apartment in east Dearborn. He’s due this week in federal court in Detroit where authorities plan to start the deportation process to send him to his native Lebanon.
Schaefer reports that Bazzi is being held on an immigration violation. He used someone else’s passport to enter the country 21 years ago, Schaefer reports. U.S. authorities won’t say whether he will face charges linked to the shootings.
To read more click here.
Read full-version at the Detroit Free Press.
