ROMULUS - Lebanese concert promoter Saeb Mokdad announced his decision to sue the federal government this week, after he was prevented from boarding a flight to Beirut at Detroit’s Metro Airport (DTW). 

Mokdad, who was at DTW on May 1, was looking forward to boarding his plane to Beirut to meet with his wife and children upon arrival to his destination. Instead, he was met by law enforcement agents before boarding his flight in Detroit and told that he could not fly, because his name is on the No-Fly List, thus preventing him from flying in, or outside of the United States.  

Mokdad’s troubles with air travel began on September 22, 2012, when he was notified by the authorities at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris that he was placed on the No-Fly List and could not board his Detroit-bound flight.

Mokdad is an American citizen, a public figure, and has worked with high-profile Middle Eastern singers for a number of years. 

Upon learning that he was on the No-Fly List in 2012, he went to the American Embassy in Paris, where he was asked several general questions about himself and his family. After which the situation became clearer to him. 

The promoter was put on the No-Fly List supposedly because members of his tribe kidnapped a number of Syrian nationals and a Turkish citizen in Beirut last August. The Mokdads are a large, well-known tribe numbering in the thousands that is predominant in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley among other areas. The so-called “military wing of the Mokdad family” engaged in a kidnapping rampage after Hassan Mokdad, a member of the family, was abducted by an armed opposition group in Syria.  

Mokdad said whenever a major event happens in the family, a mass-text message is sent to all members to meet in the family’s headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb. 

He admitted that he went to the first couple of meetings that addressed Hassan’s kidnapping in Syria. But he did not support, let alone participate, in any abduction of foreigners.

“I was against what happened and criticized it,” he said. “It is not the fault of Syrians who are working in Lebanon.”

Saeb Mokdad.

Mokdad maintains that he had nothing to do with the kidnappings, or he would have been arrested by Lebanese army intelligence, who detained several members of the family for their alleged involvement in the events last August.

U.S. Embassy employees in Paris told Mokdad that they would get back to him in a couple of days, regarding the matter. He went back to Beirut and, two days later, received an e-mail from them, stating that the American Embassy in Lebanon had a letter prepared for him that would allow him to fly into the United States in 14 days.

Meanwhile, FBI agents inquired about Mokdad in the community and spoke to his brother-in-law in Dearborn, according to him.

Mokdad arrived to Detroit last October and filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security. However, when he attempted to return to Lebanon on January 4 of this year, he was told that he could not travel, and he must notify the authorities 14 days prior to any travel plans. 

On April 26, FBI agents knocked on Mokdad’s door and inquired about the August kidnappings. They also questioned him on specific Facebook chats that he had participated in, during which he discussed the events in Lebanon with friends and relatives around the world.

Mokdad said that he knew what his rights were, and he could have refused to speak to the agents without a lawyer, but insisted that he has “nothing to hide.” 

During his three-and-a-half- hour conversation with the FBI, Mokdad told the agents that he was leaving for Beirut in a few days and gave them his lawyer’s number in case they needed anything. 

The agents told him to “have a safe trip.” 

Mokdad had notified the authorities a month in advance about his most recent trip, which was scheduled for May 1. However, when he approached the ticket counter at the airport, FBI and Homeland Security agents surrounded him and told him that he could not fly.

“I felt like I’m a criminal, and I’m not,” he said. “Why should I pay such a price simply for belonging to this family, which is an honorable family that has many doctors, lawyers and professors.”

Mokdad said that the scene at the airport hurts his reputation and hinders his business, and explained that he wished he had been told that he could not leave before going to the airport.

“My wife and kids are in Lebanon. I haven’t seen them in seven months,” he added. “I have been in this country for 24 years. I have never done anything illegal in my life.”

Mokdad is filing a lawsuit against three federal intelligence officials, in their official capacity, to clear his name off of the No-Fly List.

“This is another example of discrimination against Arab Americans,” said Mokdad’s attorney Nabih Ayad. “But we will take action and fight it in court.”  

Mokdad said he was a victim of discrimination, because he is Lebanese and an Arab, and also because he is a “Mokdad.” 

He suspects that the FBI was tipped by somebody in the community and said that the community should be more united and organized in combating such discrimination.