Cape town: An Indian origin anti-corruption campaigner and political analyst has said that US authorities deported him under armed escort over the weekend after he arrived in New York for a series of meetings with organisations including the World Bank.
Adam Habib, executive director of the government-funded Human Science Research Council's programme on democracy and governance, said on Wednesday that he was held for several hours after he arrived early on Saturday and then was questioned about possible links to terror organisations.
He said he then was informed his visa had been revoked and was escorted to a Johannesburg-bound plane under armed escort. No explanation was given.
"I am completely puzzled," said Habib, who is well known in South Africa as an outspoken political commentator who frequently denounces intolerance and terrorism. He also was an anti-apartheid campaigner before white rule was toppled with all-race elections in 1994.
The research council sent a letter to the US embassy in Pretoria asking for an explanation and asked the South African foreign ministry to intervene. "We want to know what's up," Habib, an author and college professor told AP.
Spokeswomen for US Customs and Border Protection in New York and Washington, DC, confirmed that Habib had been refused entry to the US after arriving at John F Kennedy International Airport.
The US Department of State acknowledged that it had revoked Habib's visa but declined to say why.
He said he had agreed to a voluntary interview - "because I have nothing to hide" - to answer questions about whether he belonged to or gave funding to any organisation deemed terrorist by the US government.
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