I.C.E. News Release

March 4, 2009

ICE deports convicted terrorist to Sudan after he serves 15 years in prison


DENVER - Deportation officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported convicted terrorist Khalid Dahham Al-Jawary, 61, to Khartoum, Sudan, via Denver International Airport. He arrived in Sudan, under ICE escort, about 2:00 p.m. (MST) on Tuesday.

Al-Jawary, a native of the Palestinian Territories, possesses dual citizenship with Iraq and Jordan. As a convicted terrorist, who tried to bomb three buildings in New York City in 1973, he served 15 years at the U.S. Prison (USP), Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX), Florence, Colo. After completing about half of his 30-year awarded sentence, Al-Jawary was transferred to ICE custody Feb. 19 to await his deportation.

Al-Jawary entered the United States in 1973 with a visa obtained using a fraudulent Iraqi passport. Soon after arriving, he attempted to bomb three New York City buildings using a large car bomb at each location. His targets included: the Israel Discount Bank, the Israeli Bank and Trust Company, and the El Al Airlines cargo facility at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. The timing of the planned explosions coincided with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to the United States on March 4, 1973. The bombs, however, inexplicably failed to detonate.

Al-Jawary fled the United States before authorities discovered the car bombs. He was indicted in absentia in the Eastern District of New York on May 17 and 23, 1973. He evaded prosecution for nearly two decades until he was detained in 1991 by Italian authorities while attempting to transit through Rome using a fraudulent Jordanian passport. The FBI transported Al-Jawary back to the United States in April 1992 to face trial. He was convicted by jury on April 16, 1993 on three counts of attempting to destroy property with an explosive device.

Al-Jawary is also suspected of having ties to Black September's letter-bombing campaign targeting world leaders in the 1970s, as well as the 1974 bombing of a TWA flight that killed 88 people.

In a sworn statement to the then Immigration and Naturalization Service in December 2000, Al-Jawary admitted his membership in the PLO and Hamas. A federal immigration judge ordered Al-Jawary's deportation on Jan. 24, 2001. Al-Jawary waived appeal of his deportation order.

As circumstances dictate, with the concurrence and coordination with the individual country, ICE routinely deports aliens to locations other than their country of origin.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0903/090304denver.htm