RIYADH, Jan 9: A number of Saudis freed from US jails following weeks of detention after the Sept 11 attacks have claimed that they were maltreated and psychologically abused by the prison authorities.

Some of these detainees, who have returned home permanently, spoke of arbitrary detentions, trials and deportation orders.

“Armed FBI agents raided my flat in Stamford, Florida. I was arrested like a murderer. They handcuffed me and put me in jail,” Adel Al-Otaibi, an aviation student, said while talking to newsmen here.

He told a local daily, Al-Watan, that the FBI interrogated him as to why he was studying flying and whether he had any information about the Sept 11 attacks. He said he was behind bars from Oct 28 to Dec 16.

Essam Al-Habsi, a 27-year-old computer student, told the press here that he was declared innocent after 13 days in detention following a complaint by the foreign students office at the university in Springfield, Missouri.

Dr Al-Badr Muhammad Al-Hazmi, who was sent by the Saudi Aramco to the United States to complete his Ph.d. in radiology, was deported from the US when he tried to re-enter the country after a short trip to Saudi Arabia on the plea that his entry visa was invalid.

The American authorities, he said, refused to listen to him or even to let him stay in a hotel until he contacted his company to verify the matter. However, the US authorities apologized after a complaint lodged by Aramco.

According to Saudi authorities, around 173 Saudis were arrested in the United States in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks. Around 54 are still behind bars, mostly for immigration offences.

Some 5,500 Saudi students, mostly on government scholarships, were enrolled in the US universities before Sept 11.