SAN FRANCISCO, May 25: Five prominent Democratic senators have joined Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer of New York in calling for the release of Ansar Mahmood, a Pakistani national detained for 2 1/2 years in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Sens Russell D. Feingold, D-Wis.; Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt.; Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.; Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.; and Jon S. Corzine, D-N.J., urged Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to release Ansar Mahmood, 26, an immigrant who lived and worked legally in Hudson, New York.

The senators have asked Mr Ridge to allow Mahmood to remain in the United States under a form of probation. The senators, in their letter, pointed out that "hundreds of Muslim and Arab immigrants were rounded up and detained on immigration violations within days and weeks of the September 11th attacks."

However, "none of these individuals were charged with terrorism." Instead, "they were held in custody under a cloud of suspicion and many were later deported for immigration violations."

In June 2003, the Justice Department's own inspector general issued a report critical of "this mass roundup and detention policy," the senators reminded Mr Ridge. An FBI investigation of Mahmood indicates that he posed no security threat, the senators said.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman William Strassberger, said it would take a full pardon or a bill sponsored by a member of Congress on Mahmood's behalf for him to remain in the United States with the privileges of a permanent resident, including the right to work and to re-enter the country after travel abroad.