Trinbagonian national Miguel Pascall, who was arrested in Egypt last week on suspicion of wanting to head to Syria in a bid to align himself with terrorist group Isis, was held for having an expired visa, his brother Mario told Guardian Media Limited yesterday.
According to Mario, his brother’s wife telephoned his wife telling her she came home to a ransacked apartment and a missing husband.
Two days later Miguel called his brother and asked him to get a lawyer for him as he was being held by Egyptian authorities for allegedly wanting to enter Syria. One day later Mario was again called and told the entire incident was just a misunderstanding and that he was being held for having an expired visa.
“People who know us know we Salafis are strongly against Isis and terrorism. He went to Egypt to study Arabic because Egypt is the cheapest of the Middle Eastern countries to live in and easiest to get in,” Mario said, adding his brother would be home as soon as his ticket was bought and all the necessary paperwork was finalised.
He said his brother and his family left T&T about 16 months ago for his brother to study Arabic. He said he lived in Egypt for a while himself.
He added that while he believed local authorities could do more to assist Muslims abroad, he had not seen any discrimination against local Muslims travelling abroad.