SAN FRANCISCO, April 24: A Pakistani man detained in Hartford, Connecticut, for two years following the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks faces deportation on unrelated larceny charges.

The FBI became interested in Qaiser Rafiq following the attacks, when agents learned that the 40-year-old immigrant had applied for a permit to shoot a commercial from a lower Manhattan park with a view of the World Trade Centre on Sept 11, 2001.

They discovered Rafiq had an outstanding larceny warrant from Connecticut. He was arrested in October 2001.

Rafiq, this week pleaded to contest two misdemeanour charges, received a suspended sentence — the equivalent of probation — and was placed in the custody of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

His lawyer expects that Rafiq will be deported soon. “It used to be that driving while black was enough to get you stopped in this country,” Rafiq’s attorney said. “Now all you have to be is Muslim and you’ll be deported.”— Correspondent