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INTERVIEWING FOREIGNERS: Tension, relief: One man answers FBI's questions

By Tamara Audi
Detroit Free Press
Posted on Friday December 7, 2001

He is a Lebanese chemistry student with wide eyes and cropped dark hair. He hogs the bathroom, his wife says. He talks about chemistry. And he’s always trying to make her laugh.

She is an American medical worker raised in Michigan, and a Red Wings fan. Now, she is trying to make him laugh, to take his mind off what is to come.

In less than an hour, an FBI agent will walk into this room in their lawyer’s office with a sheet of questions. Do you know anyone raising money for terrorist activities? Have you ever been to Afghanistan?

Her husband is one of 5,000 men wanted for questioning in the national terrorism investigation. Of that number, 566 live in Michigan’s eastern district. Government officials insist they are not suspects. But government memos say some of the foreigners can be detained without bond. Another memo instructs the U.S Immigration and Naturalization Service not to overlook visa violations.

The couple go outside for a smoke, huddling together, watching late afternoon traffic. People going home from work, tapping steering wheels, thinking about dinner. This was them less than two weeks ago, before the letter that asked him to contact the government. His wife leans in, says something. He smiles.

They met one night before New Year’s at her cousin’s house. “I just stared at him,” she says with a laugh. He says: “I thought she was so serious. I wanted to see if I could get her to laugh.” They married earlier this year.

They have names, these two, but they don’t want to give them out. None of their family or friends knows about the letter, or Thursday’s appointment with the FBI. They agreed to share their story with the Free Press, which taped the meeting with the permission of their lawyer.

“We have nothing to hide,” the man says. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.” But he doesn’t want his parents, far off in Lebanon, to worry. She doesn’t want them to become marked in social circles. It’s already difficult enough to have an Arabic last name after Sept. 11, she says.

So they decide to tell no one about the sleeplessness, the tense car rides to the lawyer’s office, the stomach-churning moments before the agent arrives.

“Hi. My name is Bob Beeckman. Please call me Bob,” the agent says to the couple when he walks into the office. Beeckman, a special agent with the FBI in Detroit, the couple and their lawyer, Nabih Ayad, sit at the table. They shut the door. For the next half hour, the wife will watch Beeckman intently as he asks her husband a series of questions.

The agent starts out by trying to make the couple comfortable. “We do not think that you are a terrorist,” Beeckman says. “Really, you’re not a suspect. Chances are, unless you have something to tell us at some future date, you’ll never meet another FBI agent in your life.”

Beeckman starts asking basic questions—name, age, address—and taking notes.

He asks about the man’s visa status and why he came to this country. The man has applied for a green card.

Beeckman says, “I’ve been explaining to people, I don’t work for the INS. I’ve already asked you all the questions I’m going to ask you about your immigration. We’re here to find information about terrorism.” But he adds, “I don’t have the power to give people immunity from INS investigations.”

After asking to see photo identification, the agent begins asking questions about terrorism, mostly the yes or no kind. The young man answers without hesitating. Among the questions:

Have you ever visited Afghanistan? (No).

Have you ever participated in an armed conflict? (A mandatory year in the Lebanese Army, but no fighting).

Do you yourself have any knowledge, other than what you see on the media, of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11? (No).

Are you aware of anybody who reacted in a surprising way about the terrorist attacks? Maybe you got to work and maybe a coworker said, “Good I’m glad that happened.”? (No).

Do you know of anybody that is advocating, supporting or planning a terrorist attack of any kind? (No).

Do you know anyone who’s capable or willing to carry out an act of terrorism? (No).

Did you recognize the names of any of the suspects? (No).

And then: Is there anything you can think of that might help us?

For the first time, the 27-year-old hesitates. “There’s nothing I know about these things. If there’s something I know, I would tell you guys about it for sure.”

Beeckman tells him that the FBI is also here to help him. He tells him he can report any harassment to the government. Then, he puts his pen down and asks him how he felt when he got the letter.

“I was shocked,” the man tells Beeckman. “I was asking myself, ‘Why? There’s no reason to have this letter.’ ”

Beeckman thanks him and leaves. The couple walk to their car, relieved.

“It’s over,” his wife says. “Let’s go home.”