Nephew: Man mistakenly jailed for pressure cooker

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Nephew: Man mistakenly jailed for pressure cooker
By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press 1:18 p.m.May 13, 2013

DETROIT — The nephew of a Saudi man arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport says the case is a misunderstanding, and that the pressure cooker his uncle was bringing for him so he could make lamb.

Nasser Almarzooq (NAH'sur ahl mar-ZOOK') told The Associated Press on Monday that he'd asked his uncle, Hussain Al Khawahir (HOO'-sayn ahl kah-WAH'-heer), to bring him a pressure cooker because the ones he bought in the U.S. didn't work.

Two pressure cookers were used in last month's Boston Marathon bombings.

Almarzooq says he's concerned about his uncle and hasn't been told anything since his Saturday arrest. Almarzooq goes to the University of Toledo and says his uncle was coming to visit him for a couple weeks.


Read more: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/13/nephew-man-mistakenly-jailed-for-pressure-cooker/

[cosmicone]

1. mmm hmmmm n/t

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Are you seriously suggesting they were smuggling in a terrorist pressure cooker?

Because they are so hard to come by here. I mean, you have to go to the store and everything.

[cosmicone]

6. What is suspicious is

the statement that "none of the pressure cookers bought in the US worked." I have never had a US made pressure cooker not work.

On the other hand, since the US made pressure cookers are perfectly adequate for making bombs, it is unlikely that anyone would import one.

I was just being flippant.

[Ash_F]

13. Maybe it didn't work to the specs they wanted for their particular dish.

It is a foreign dish.

[cosmicone]

15. Maybe but ....

The complaint says Al Kwawahir originally said he brought the pressure cooker with him because pressure cookers aren't sold in America, then later said his nephew had bought one but it "was cheap" and broke after one use.

Agents said they also noticed a page was missing from Al Kwawahir's passport from Saudi Arabia. He told them he didn't how it had been removed, and said the document had been locked in a box that only he, his wife, and three children have access to in his home, according to the complaint.

Why did he lie and which destination he had visited that he wanted to hide? Pakistan? Afghanistan?

A normal person would have said, "lamb cannot be adequately cooked in a US made pressure cooker" (which is not true by the way because I cook lamb even without a pressure cooker to make vindaloo.

[Daniel537]

16. Black Helicopters much?

We don't know that he lied, it could easily have been a statement lost in translation, which happens every day at US airports. And we don't know if he ripped out a page of his passport, and if he did why. But by all means, keep up the search for terraist pressure cookers.

[Ash_F]

17. Wow, they should call you the pressure cooker inquisitor. /nt

[L0oniX]

2. Toaster bombs are next...

[arcane1]

7. Wedge a couple of Pop Tarts in there, and you have a pretty powerful weapon!

[L0oniX]

9. Those things are deadly without the toaster. n/t

[azurnoir]

8. Let's not forget the most dangerous of all kitchen incendiary devices

the toaster oven

[marble falls]

3. Welcome to the United States of Over-re-actia! Nope. No raclal/religious profiling here folks!

[jtuck004]

5. Pressure cookers are just the beginning. We are all in danger as long as backpacks go unregulated.

There could be anything in those things. Books, even.

[L0oniX]

10. Does underwear come with bomb sensors yet?

[jtuck004]

18. Underwear with a sniffer...beware of false alarms. I can see D. Issa going batshit over those. n/t

[L0oniX]

21. Huh? Underwear for bats??? n/t

[RILib]

11. nmissing page in his passport - wonder where that showed he had been.

[mahannah]

12. pressure cookers don't kill people...

[a2liberal]

14. Another one?

Both in MI too

[uppityperson]

19. Why the hell should anyone have to explain why they bring in any cookware?Or anything else like that

I mean, seriously. If someone were going to fly into the us and make a bomb, just buy a cheap one here. Good grief. Next thing I'll be arrested for exporting those skanky dried cheese packs from cheap mac-n-cheese that my nieces miss so much. Yes, France has GREAT cheese, but not the same.

Why the hell should this be an issue? Yes, missing passport pages is odd and needs checking into, but a pressure cooker? It doesn't matter why he is bringing it in.

Or are they going to start confiscating ALL pressure cookers, limiting or requiring registration when you buy one? Idiots.

[NutmegYankee]

20. Don't give them any ideas.

I wonder if the foreign cookers allow higher pressures? I mainly use mine to make a speedy beef stew.

[uppityperson]

22. Could be a price difference or "things from home are better" thing.

I'd love a nice stainless steel one but they are too expensive for me. I wonder if they are cheaper elsewhere so uncle bought/brought one? Or if it is a "things from somewhere else are better", "things from home are better" deal, which happens often also.