Update: The Associated Press reported that Yahya Wehelie returned to the U.S. on Saturday.By Allan Lengel ticklethwire.com
WASHINGTON — A Virginia man who had been in no-fly list hell for months will now be allowed to return to the U.S., the Associated Press reported.
Yahya Wehelie spent 18 months in Yemen. In May, he was heading home to Virginia and was changing planes in Cairo when the FBI stopped him and told him he was on the no-fly list. He was then stuck in Egpyt.
The New York Times had reported that the FBI wanted to question him about his contact with an American in Yemen accused of hooking up with al Qaeda and fatally shooting a hospital guard. He and his parents said at the time eh wanted to come home and finish his education and get a job. They also said he hated al Qaeda.
AP reported that Wehelie said in a phone interview that he’s not clear why US officials changed their mind, but he holds no ill will.
“I’m not angry at all. I know who I am and I knew eventually I would go home,” he told AP.“They’re trying to find the bad people, so more power to them.”
