Moroccan faces
deportation in threats
against isle Muslim leader

Falah Abdelhak says he is being
set up by mosque members

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com

A 35-year-old Moroccan man faces deportation after he allegedly threatened the president of the Muslim Association of Hawaii.

But Falah Abdelhak said he is being "set up" by members of the mosque. He added that allegations of the verbal threats against mosque leader Hakim Ouansafi are false.

Abdelhak appeared yesterday in Immigration Court on charges of violating his visa and living in the United States illegally for the past 14 years. Abdelhak admitted he violated his time spent in the United States but strongly denied the allegations of threats made against Ouansafi.

Judge Dayna Dias denied Abdelhak's request for a voluntary departure back to his native Morocco. Abdelhak's attorney, James Stanton, said he plans to meet today with Abdelhak to discuss whether to appeal the judge's decision.

According to a document filed by immigration officials, Abdelhak made several threats against Ouansafi last Thursday afternoon that included "I'm exploding and it's going to be deadly. I'm going to do something big that will hit the front page of the newspaper."

"I did not know how to take it," Ouansafi said when contacted after the hearing.

"He was very upset. He may have not known what he was saying," Ouansafi said.

The president of the Muslim Association of Hawaii decided to call the police, who arrested Abdelhak early Friday morning for terroristic threatening.

Stanton said after the hearing that he found it "most disturbing" that those who informed authorities of Abdelhak's alleged threats did not provide a written statement.

"There was no evidence provided to the court to substantiate their claim," Stanton said.

Abdelhak said before the court session that he approached Ouansafi seeking his assistance to help a friend with medical costs about 5 p.m. Friday. After Ouansafi refused, he said he would notify the attorney general.

But Ouansafi later told a reporter that the 35-year-old man never asked for the mosque's assistance for medical expenses. Ouansafi said he and other members had previous problems with Abdelhak sneaking into the mosque and sleeping in the building. After Ouansafi told Abdelhak he was not allowed at the mosque, he said Abdelhak verbally threatened him.

According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Abdelhak first arrived in New York on Dec. 27, 1988, on a visa that authorized his stay in the United States for six months. But he remained in the United States for 14 years without authorization from immigration officials. Abdelhak said he married a U.S. citizen but is now recently separated from his wife. The 35-year-old man was living in a van while looking for a place to live, he said.

Abdelhak is currently being held at the federal detention center.