Hesham Mohamed Hadayet
Los Angeles, CA

Gama'a al-Islamiyya (IG)

On July 4, 2002, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet shot and killed two people at the Los Angeles airport before he was killed by a security guard from the Israeli El Al Airlines.[1] Hadayet was reported to be staunchly anti-Israeli.[2] He had applied for asylum in 1992. Egyptian authorities had accused and arrested him of being a member of the Islamic Group Gama'a al-Islamiyya (IG), which is on the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.[3] Hadayet's asylum request was denied by the INS and he was placed in removal proceedings. However, after Hadayet did not receive the notice of his immigration hearing date due to an incorrect mailing address, the EOIR terminated the proceeding.[4]


[1] Erich Lichtblau, "Threats and Responses: The Airport Attack; INS Ignored Possible Link of Airport Killer to Terrorists," New York Times, September 25, 2002.

[2] Ibid.

[3] "The Immigration and Naturalization Service's Removal of Aliens Issued Final Order," Report # I-2003-04, February 2003, http://www.justice.gov/oig//reports/INS/e0304/results.htm

[4] Ibid.

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