30 April 2003
Asylum Granted to Iraqi Who Aided Jessica Lynch Rescue
(Entire family granted humanitarian parole into U.S.) (280) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has granted asylum to Mohammed Odeh Al Rehaief, the Iraqi citizen who risked his safety to help U.S. forces rescue Private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in Nassiriyah. According to a statement released April 29 by the Department of Homeland Security, Al Rehaief was granted humanitarian parole in the United States on April 25 with his wife and five year old daughter in Arlington, Virginia. Following is the text of a statement from the Department of Homeland Security: (begin text) U.S. Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) April 29, 2003 Asylum Granted to Iraqi Who Aided Jessica Lynch Rescue The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has granted asylum to Mohammed Odeh Al Rehaief, the Iraqi citizen who provided information to the U.S. Marines that led to the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nassiriyah, Iraq. Al Rehaief's wife and five-year-old daughter were also granted asylum in a meeting last Friday at the Arlington, Virginia asylum office. When visiting his wife who worked as a nurse at the Saddam Hospital in Nassiriyah, Mr. Al Rehaief discovered that Pvt. Jessica Lynch was being detained at the hospital. Because of his concern for Ms. Lynch, Mr. Al Rehaief provided information about her location to the United States Marines, who were subsequently able to successfully rescue Pvt. Lynch. The family was brought to the U.S. by the Department of Defense earlier this month after the Department of Homeland Security granted them humanitarian parole into the United States. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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