After the FBI mysteriously interrogated U.S. citizen Jamal Tarhuni in Tunisia and delayed his flight home to Portland by a month, he finally was allowed to return to his family on Feb. 14, as msnbc.com reported. Tarhuni says he still does not know why he was stopped and could not get the FBI to confirm or deny whether he was on the secret no-fly list.

On Wednesday, the mystery was solved, partially. When Tarhuni, 55, attempted to fly from Portland to Seattle to deliver a presentation about his experience providing humanitarian aid in Libya, he was denied boarding.

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His story is familiar to people on the FBI’s secret no-fly list. Tarhuni went to a kiosk at Portland International Airport for automated check in. The machine produced a message saying it could not process his request and instructing him to talk to a customer service representative.

The customer service representative at Alaska Airlines took his driver’s license, then disappeared into another room, he said.

"After about half an hour I was told that for security reasons I would not be able to fly today," said Tarhuni, who was driving to Seattle, about 175 road miles from Portland.

He asked the manager at the airline to contact a representative with the Transportation Security Administration. But after a 10-minute cell phone call, the airline manager said there was no one to resolve the problem.

The no-fly list is maintained by the Terrorism Screening Center, administered by the FBI. According to the FBI web site, the list contains the names of "known and appropriately suspected terrorists." The list has about 20,000 names on it, according to the TSC, including about 500 U.S. citizens. FBI policy prohibits confirming or denying an individual is on the list.

"In practical terms, I have to drive in the snow and rain to Seattle because I made a commitment to the World Affairs Council to give a presentation," Tarhuni said.

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He was scheduled to speak Wednesday evening at a World Affairs Council event on his experience working with Medical Teams International on humanitarian projects in Libya -- which is where he was before his encounter with the FBI in Tunisia.

"Personally I am extremely disappointed, and I am at a loss for what I need to do, and whether justice will be served," said Tarhuni, who was born in Libya but has lived in the United States for more than three decades.

Tarhuni says he will pursue a legal case if necessary to force the government to restore his right to fly. Among other things, he was planning to facilitate teams of American doctors and nurses who will provide training in Libya, which is trying to recover from a civil war and set up a new government after the ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in December.

In the meantime, Tarhuni was preparing to board a train as early as Thursday in Portland to get to a meeting in Minnesota on March 3, where he and a Medical Teams International representative are slated to speak to a Nobel Prize forum.

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Jamal Tarhuni is now home, but the questions surrounding his unexplained month-long exile in North Africa remain unanswered. 

Tarhuni, a 55-year-old Libyan-American businessman, was reunited with his wife and four children in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday, ending an ordeal in which he was barred by the U.S. from flying home and questioned at length by the FBI. 

It is unclear why the agency waylaid Tarhuni, and it is unclear whether he faces more scrutiny. He and his attorney presume he is on the U.S. government’s “no-fly” list — meaning he would be barred from boarding any domestic or international flight that enters U.S. airspace. The FBI and State Department have refused comment on his case, citing privacy and security, and both agencies consistently decline to confirm or deny whether specific names are on the list.

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The ordeal faced by Tarhuni and his fellow Oregonian Libyan-American, Mustafa Elogbi, 60, who remains stuck in Tunisia for another week at least, is more common for U.S. citizens than it seems — particularly for those who are Muslim or of Arab descent, said Gadeir Abbas, an attorney with the Council on American Islamic Relations who has been involved in Tarhuni’s case and many other apparent “no-fly” cases.

Previous coverage from msnbc.com

• American aid worker: US bars my return
• What gives? Another American caught in no-fly limbo
• No-fly Americans split up to fly home
• Bittersweet homecoming for Libyan-American caught in no-fly limbo

“There is a constant stream of despicable tales,” said Abbas. “It’s more common that we hear from people and they don’t want to go public. When your own government tells you you’re too dangerous to fly, there’s a palpable fear of retaliation. And it’s really an expectation that people on the no-fly list have that something more onerous is coming down the road.” 

Tarhuni decided when he was stuck in Tunis that he would publicly challenge the FBI actions — which he believes were unconstitutional and unjustifiable. He said Tuesday that he intends to continue to seek publicity and generate discussion of the “no fly” issue. 

There are two ongoing legal cases that challenge the government's authority to use the no-fly list, said Abbas. 

"These (cases) are going to take years, and in the meantime, these are human tragedies," he added. 

In the accompanying video, shot on Tuesday at their home in Tigard, Ore., just outside Portland, Tarhuni, his wife, Nariman Samed, and daughter Lina discuss the personal impact the incident had on the family, their uncertainty about the future and how they intend to move forward.

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 PORTLAND, Ore. — Family, friends and supporters celebrated the homecoming Tuesday of Jamal Tarhuni, a Libyan-American businessman whose return to the U.S. from North Africa was delayed by a month after he was detained for questioning by the FBI.

A burst of applause and cheering went up as Tarhuni emerged into the waiting area at Portland International Airport after clearing the last bureaucratic hurdle of his trip – a two-hour wait to clear customs. His youngest son, 10-year-old Rasheed, armed with helium balloons, stood at the front of a welcome line of men.

The tone of the homecoming quickly became serious again, as Tarhuni reassured others about the status of another member of the Libyan-American community – Mustafa Elogbi, 60, who remains in Tunisia after being barred at the last minute from joining Tarhuni and their attorney, Tom Nelson, on the flight home.

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Tarhuni, 55, left for Libya in October to deliver medical supplies to hospitals and refugee camps, but he said that when he tried to return on Jan. 17, he was denied boarding and directed to the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, where he was questioned extensively by FBI agents.

At the Portland airport, he addressed the gathered press with a message to the FBI:

"We value your work when you stop criminals," Tarhuni said. "We do not value your work when you do not do your homework and stop innocent people."

He called his ordeal a shock and said he was particularly disappointed in the U.S. Embassy.

"I was not able to get straight answers or help you would expect from your embassy abroad," he said. "I was not even able to get basic information on who made the decision to stop me from coming home."

Tuesday’s reunion with his wife, Nariman Samed, and four children ended a month of uncertainty for Tarhuni, a naturalized American citizen, but it did nothing to clarify why he was held or whether he faces further questioning. He does not know whether he is on the government’s secret no-fly list, which would prevent him from flying back to his native Libya or in U.S. airspace.

The uncertainty around Elogbi remains, although he has booked a flight home from Tunis on Sunday.

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"I’m really happy that Jamal Tarhuni is coming home, but I’m really ready for my dad to come home," said Elogbi’s daughter, Allaa, 20, fighting back tears. "(This return) does give me hope that within a week my dad will be here. … But so far you don’t know if you can trust them or not, you know? There is no reason my dad should not be home today. There is no reason he shouldn’t have been home last month."

The crowd of about 40 people on hand to greet Tarhuni was a mixture of family and friends from Muslim and interfaith communities.

"What brings me out is injustice, not allowing someone to come home because they are Muslim or have an Arabic name, or a foreign-sounding name – the nemesis du jour," said Pam Allee, a Portland resident who came to show support but does not know the families.

Karen Redington, a Christian who said she has worked with Tarhuni on interfaith events, carried an American flag and a sign that read: "I’m sorry."

"I am so sorry that this would happen to anyone, let alone somebody who is one of the most gentle, humble, caring men, who has taken the time to go back to his country of origin to bring millions and millions of dollars of humanitarian aid through Medical Teams International," she said. "I am so sorry. This does not represent this community; this does not represent this country."

No one was more relieved at Tarhuni’s return than Rasheed, who was looking forward to spending some quality time with his dad after an absence of four months.

"He missed my birthday, so he said we’re going to have a cake and we’re going to go out and we’re going to invite my friends, maybe go to Evergreen waterpark. Or we’re going to take trip to Disneyland," he said.

Going forward, he said, he’s going to keep his eye on his dad:

"I’m going to hug him so much and never let him go back anywhere else, and tell him, ‘If you’re going somewhere, the whole family comes with you.’"

 

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Two American men previously barred from flights home from North Africa and subjected to extensive questioning were slated to fly back to their home in Portland, Ore. — with their attorney — on Monday, but one of them was notified over the weekend by U.S. officials that he wouldn't be allowed on the flight.

The two Libyan-born men, both U.S. citizens and long-time businessmen in Portland, were barred from earlier efforts to return home and questioned — one by officials in the United Kingdom and the other by FBI agents in Tunis. They are believed to be on the government’s secret no-fly list, but the FBI, which maintains the list, will neither confirm nor deny names on the list as a matter of policy.

US aid worker: US bars my return

What gives? Another American in no-fly limbo

After a one-month delay, Jamal Tarhuni — who had been delivering aid to Libyan medical facilities and refugee camps — was allowed to board a flight from Tunis on Monday. He was accompanied by his Portland attorney, Tom Nelson. They plan to transit through Paris and Amsterdam before flying to Portland, arriving on Tuesday morning.

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But a second Portland man caught in a parallel security quagmire, Mustafa Elogbi, was told over the weekend that he would not be able to board the flight with Tarhuni and Nelson, who is providing legal assistance to both men.

“The U.S. government — we’re not even sure which agency — has put my family on this horrid emotional rollercoaster ride with no end in sight,” said Elogbi’s wife, Annie Petrossian, speaking from Portland. Petrossian says her husband’s high blood pressure is worsening because he has run out of medication. “Does anyone even care?”

Elogbi’s family and attorneys said the U.S. Embassy consul in Tunis, Michael Sweeney, had previously told them to go ahead with booking the Monday flight.

On Saturday, two days before travel, Elogbi received another missive from Sweeney saying: “The Embassy has been informed” that Elogbi must make alternative travel plans “no earlier than 24 hours after your original departure times” and according to a set of conditions that include notifying the embassy of the itinerary.

Elogbi had been in Libya to see relatives and visit Libyan refugees in the aftermath of the revolution that ousted long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. He tried to return home to Portland on Jan. 8, but was detained during a layover in London--at the behest of U.S. authorities, British officials told him. Elogbi was questioned at length and held in solitary confinement for two days before being sent back to Tunis, his point of departure.

Elogbi is now slated to fly home Feb. 19. His attorney will return to Tunis to accompany him.

“The United States government is acting outrageously,” said Nelson, in a written message sent from Tunis. “These actions expose the government's use of the no-fly list not as a counter-terrorism tool but, rather, as a tool to coerce, intimidate, humiliate, oppress, and punish innocent members of the Muslim community in Portland.”

The FBI office in Portland, which has an agent involved in this case, could not respond to reporter queries about the case -- whether there is a case against the men, whether there would be questioning after they returned, and whether they are on the no-fly list going forward.

"The U.S. Privacy Act, as well as a variety of other federal laws and guidelines, prevent the FBI from speaking directly to your questions," wrote Beth Ann Steele, media relations spokewoman at the field office. "We are not allowed to speak to whether we have an investigation open in any particular instance, nor are we permitted to speak about any particular person. These protections are in place to ensure that every American’s rights to privacy are guarded."

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