Boy I hope this is something innocuous but it's tough not to be concerned.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/08/egypti ... index.html

Egyptian students disappear in U.S.
FBI hunting 11 exchange students who didn't show up at school

Tuesday, August 8, 2006; Posted: 10:07 p.m. EDT (02:07 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Immigration agents and the FBI are looking for 11 Egyptian students who entered the United States on valid student visas, then failed to show up at a university in Montana, authorities said.

The FBI on Saturday issued a nationwide alert to law enforcement agencies. Included were the students' names, ages, passport numbers and photographs.

"At the present time there are no known associations to any terrorist groups. Approach with caution," the lookout bulletin states. (Watch Homeland Security work on the mystery -- 2:22)

FBI and immigration officials confirmed there's no evidence pointing to criminal activity or a terrorist threat. However, The Associated Press quoted a law enforcement official as saying that the students could be sent home when found because they violated the terms of their visas.

They were part of an all-male group of 17 students that landed July 29 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Six of them arrived later at Montana State University as part of an exchange program; the other 11 did not, prompting school officials to contact the government.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said the men, who range in age from 17 to 22, may be staying in New York, visiting relatives and trying to find jobs.

"We have run their names through the wringer," one Department of Homeland Security official said.

U.S. authorities are working with foreign intelligence agencies to make sure there is nothing suspicious in the students' backgrounds, federal sources said. Those sources added that 20 students applied for student visas to go to Montana State, but three of the applicants were denied.

"We do want to talk to them. But at this point there's no reason to believe they pose any criminal or terrorist threat," said Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Julie Myers, who heads Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The students were identified as:

• El Sayed Ahmed Elsayed Ibrahim, 20

• Eslam Ibrahim Mohamed El Dessouki, 21

• Alaa Abd El Fattah Ali El Bahnasawi, 20

• Mohamed Ragab Mohamed Abd Alla, 22

• Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, 19

• Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Abou El Ela, 21

• Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed El Moghazy, 20

• Ebrahim Mabrouk Moustafa Abdou, 22

• Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa El Gafary, 18

• Mohamed Saleh Ahmed Maray, 20

• Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad El Shenawy, 17

Catching shit like THIS is what makes us safer after 9/11.

hunt em' down and shoot em' dead, should be easy to catch them since they'll be the only ones walking like an egyptian

I find it highly inappropriate that you're make jokes about such a serious security issue.

I believe they found three of them wandering lost in Newark and trying to contact their parents because they were so scared (and I would be too, if I found myself in Newark). Oh, they volutarily went to the police station to turn themselves in when they learned they were being sought. They found one other guy in Minneapolis, I haven't heard follow-up abouot him yet.

Nine Egyptian students in U.S. custody
2 still missing; 11 of 17 exchange students didn't show up for school

Saturday, August 12, 2006; Posted: 12:56 p.m. EDT (16:56 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nine Egyptian students out of 11 who went missing in the United States two weeks ago are in custody, a government statement said Saturday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and FBI investigators are trying to locate the remaining two students. The FBI issued a nationwide alert with the students' names, ages, passport numbers and photos.

Three students were found and arrested Friday night in Des Moines, Iowa, according to the statement from the FBI and the immigration service.

"The arrests were made without incident. ICE agents tracked these students' travels from New York to San Francisco to Des Moines," the statement said. "All three were arrested on administrative immigration violations as out-of-status students."

They have been identified as Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, 19; Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed El Moghazy, 20; and Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa El Gafary, 18.

Six students were arrested earlier this week.

A preliminary investigation "has not identified any credible or imminent threat posed by any of the 11 Egyptian students," the FBI has said.

The agency also stressed that there are no ties between the Egyptians and the suspected terror plot announced Thursday by British and U.S. authorities, The Associated Press reported.

The 11 male students were part of a group of 17 that arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy airport July 29 for an exchange program at Montana State University. All had valid student visas, but only six showed up for class, authorities said.

Federal authorities began thoroughly tracking international students after learning that one of the 9/11 hijackers was in the country on an expired student visa.

The students unaccounted for have been identified as:

• Mohamed Saleh Ahmed Maray, 20

• Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad El Shenawy, 17.