Jan.15,2002:  These are among many stories of discremination and bad treatment of Arabs living or studying in the US.....We hope that such cases will not happen...

There are many allegations that American law enforcement officers are harassing Saudi nationals, sometimes violently, in the hunt for the September 11 plotters.

Hundreds of Saudis have been hauled in by U.S. authorities as part of the investigation into the suicide hijack attacks, which Washington blames on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.

One case involves the student son of one of Saudi Arabia's prominent families. Mohammed said his fiancée and other relatives were abused after U.S. officials had mistaken him for Mohammed Atta – the suspected leader of the hijackers.

"It was a case of mistaken identity," said Mohammed – he asked that his precise surname not be used for fear of jeopardizing his return to complete his degree but it is similar to Atta's. "They thought I was Mohammed Atta," he said.

Mohammed recounted his fiancée's ordeal in a Boston hotel on September 12, the day after the attacks: "She opened the door to get the paper and a man in a civilian suit pointed a gun at her head, dragged her and hit her in the face with handcuffs."

Her sister-in-law and brother were forced to the ground and handcuffed, the former kicked in the head, he said. Mohammed said U.S. agents "demanded an immediate confession" from his fiancée, who has since become his wife.

While he was at a lecture in another state, his family was detained for six hours in the hotel. Mohammed himself had stayed there some days earlier.