Students held in terror scare say incident was a mistake

DAVIE, Fla. -- A Miami hospital says it no longer wants the three Muslim medical students who were detained for 17 hours after a woman said she overheard them discussing terror plans. The men later said the incident was simply a misunderstanding.

The head of Larkin Community Hospital in Miami said Sunday he had received more than 200 e-mails after the incident, some threatening.

"Obviously, nothing is final," said Dr. Jack Michel, president and chief executive officer of Larkin. "Our primary objective is to take care of patients. I don't know how that could be done with all this media coverage."

He said the medical school where the men are studying, Ross University, had agreed to transfer them to a different training program.

Kambiz Butt, 25, said Sunday that he and Ayman Gheith, 27, and Omar Choudhary, 23, simply want to clear their names and be allowed to continue their education in the United States.

'We're medical students'

"We're medical students. We are not terrorists," Butt said, flanked by Gheith and Choudhary. "Our concern in life is to become doctors. We want to help people. We do not want to hurt."

Butt, the only one of the students to speak at a news conference, also said all were worried about their futures but harbor no resentment toward the woman who told authorities she overheard them discussing terrorist plans Thursday at a restaurant in Calhoun, Ga.

"We're in a state of shock and we are scared," Butt said. "But I'd like to tell the American people that we are not a threat."

The woman who called authorities, Eunice Stone of Cartersville, Ga., said she heard the students talking about blowing up buildings and laughing about the Sept. 11 attacks. She also said she heard the students saying that a terrorist event was looming on Sept. 13.

"Not once did we mention 9-11. Not once did we mention anything about 9-13, nor did we joke about anything of that sort," Butt said. "She was probably just eavesdropping on our conversation and might have heard a few key words that she misconstrued."

Butt said he believes Stone was attempting to be "a patriot for America." Stone stood by her report of what she heard and said she would do the same thing again.

"I am not a racist, and I am not ignorant," she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I was just trying to do what's best."

Brett Newkirk, one of four attorneys representing the students, called the situation "an incident of misunderstanding."

"They are Americans, just like any other American, who are proud to be American, who want to fulfill the American dream, and who were on the road to doing that when the American nightmare happened to them," Newkirk said.

David Kubiliun, another attorney for the men, said all three are U.S. citizens. Gheith is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Jordan.

The three students were in two cars and en route to Miami on Friday when authorities stopped them on Interstate 75 after one of the vehicles allegedly went through a toll plaza without paying.

"They didn't blow the toll," Newkirk said, without elaborating.

Officials at Ross University, which is based in New York City but has a campus on the Caribbean island of Dominica, did not immediately return calls for comment on Sunday.

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On the Net

Ross University: http://www.rossmed.edu/Medical--School/Home/home.shtml