American Citizen Barred From Returning to US

The ouster of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi was life-changing for Jamal Tarhuni, an American citizen from the North African country who was granted U.S. asylum in the 1970s. Over the past year as Libyans fought to destroy the vestiges of the four-decade long dictatorship, Tarhuni threw himself into aid work for his native country.

Now the Portland businessman is fighting for his right to fly home to the United States. Sometime during his most recent aid mission to Libya, it appears, Tarhuni landed on the government's no-fly list — a secret roster of thousands of people, including hundreds of Americans, whom the Department of Homeland Security has identified as terror suspects.

"(The United States) is a country that has given me a lot," Tarhuni said, speaking to msnbc.com from Tripoli. "All of the sudden this country I love very much has given me a slap in the face … Here we are, we just got rid of this regime (Gadhafi)… and this happens to me in the United States of America. It was really mind-boggling."

Read the rest here.