NEW YORK, Jan 23: Democratic Congressman from Harlem New York, Charles Rangel, has joined a Hudson Valley citizens group in calling for the release of a Pakistani pizza deliveryman detained in a federal prison near Buffalo for two years, according to a report in a local newspaper.

The Pakistani, Ansar Mahmood, was held during a crackdown on immigrants launched after Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr Mahmood, 26, who lived and worked legally in Hudson, NY, has been locked up awaiting deportation since January 2002 as a result of an infraction that would have resulted in probation for a United States citizen.

"It seemed to me that he was being dealt an injustice, so I wrote his attorney offering to be of assistance to help resolve this matter," Mr Rangel said in a written statement.

Mr Rangel called on federal officials to comply with Mr Mahmood's request for release under a form of probation and his return to the upstate community where he has several offers of housing and employment.

Mr Rangel is the first public official to call for Mahmood's release. New York Democratic Senators. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton say they want more information. Unlike many of the more than 1,000 immigrants swept up in the two months following the terrorist attacks and later deported, Mr Mahmood came to the United States legally in April 2000, after winning a highly coveted immigration visa in a diversity lottery.