May 11, 2003	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 8, 1424

LOS ANGELES, May 10: A Saudi consular official was held for two days and expelled from the United States this week because he was accused of having links with terrorist organizations, the Los Angeles Times said on Saturday.

Fahad al Thumairy, 31, arrived on a flight from Frankfurt on Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport to learn that his visa had been revoked in March, the newspaper reported.

He was barred from returning for five years, and on Thursday was put on an international flight, the paper quoted Department of Homeland spokeswoman Virginia Kise as saying.

He had been at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles since 1996 and held a diplomatic post in the Islamic and cultural affairs section. He also served as an imam at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, one of Southern California’s largest Muslim houses of worship.—Reuters