Arrested Air NZ worker took US flying course in own time

By PATRICK GOWER and NZPA

The Auckland man arrested by United States federal agents as he was about to start a 727 flying course in Miami was on leave from his job at Air New Zealand.

The airline yesterday revealed that Mohammad Saffi, who is believed to be a stepson of Iraqi President Saddam Hussain, was at the course of his own accord.

Air NZ had previously refused to say whether Mr Saffi, who has worked as flight engineer, was an employee.

He was arrested on the eve of July 4 - US Independence Day - after New Zealand police tipped off the Americans.

The New Zealand citizen has admitted he made a mistake in trying to enter the country to study while on a tourist visa.

He was observed as he checked in at the Aeroservice Aviation Centre. The school was attended by one of the September 11 hijackers - Ziad Jarrah, who is suspected of commandeering United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field.

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday said it was satisfied with Mr Saffi's explanation that he failed to obtain an appropriate study visa.

Reports say Mr Saffi was in Miami with four other men, at least one of them a US citizen, for Boeing 727 simulator training.

The trip is believed to be connected to a New Zealand company that has bought a Boeing 727 jet.

An FBI spokeswoman yesterday defended the agency's hard-line stance.

"We got the information that he was coming here and the fact that he was Saddam Hussain's stepson, it was July 4 and that he was going to flight training . . . We had no choice but to act swiftly."

Mr Saffi's mother, Samira Shahbandar, is believed to have married Saddam after a relationship that began in the 1980s.

US immigration sources have told the Herald that, as well as the visa irregularity, they thought Mr Saffi "just didn't feel right".

The source discounted the possibility Mr Saffi might not have sought a study visa because the course was for only four days.

NZ diplomats from Washington have spoken to Mr Saffi by phone at the Krome detention centre in Miami, where he is being held for deportation in the next few days.

Ministry spokesman Brad Tattersfield said Mr Saffi "accepted he had made a mistake and had to be reported".

A guard at the Krome centre told the Herald Mr Saffi was being kept away from other prisoners "because of who he is".

The guard said the centre was not a prison. "But it's no hotel either."

Mr Saffi's family did not want to comment yesterday.



Air New Zealand spokesman Mark Champion did not think the airline had been consulted about the flight training.

"Whatever he was doing, he was doing it on leave."