US ban for 9/11 film actor

The lead actor in a controversial film about the September 11 attacks has been refused entry into the US for the premiere.

Iraqi Lewis Alsamari, who plays the lead hijacker in United 93, was told this week by the US embassy in London that he is unlikely to be granted a visa to attend the New York premiere next Tuesday of the British movie at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Alsamari, 30, was granted asylum in Britain in 1998 after fleeing Iraq while serving in Saddam Hussein's army.

United 93 recounts the events on the doomed United Airlines Flight 93, when passengers fought back against the terrorists who had hijacked the plane during the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States. Alsamari, who lives in Barnet, said: "I was born in Iraq but have lived in Britain since 1995 and am about to apply for British citizenship."

Though he is hoping for a lastminute change of heart by the embassy, Alsamari claims he is barred from the US because he served in the Iraqi army in the early Nineties - but insists he was pressured to join up by the Iraqi authorities.

When he filmed on location for the movie in New York, Alsamari was granted a single entry visa into the US the day before filming was due to start. He is hoping that will be the case this time around and will be meeting officials next week. Alsamari said: "Unlike many other people in the film, I was given a single-entry visa into the United States.

"I think this was because I am still an Iraqi citizen and fought in the Iraqi army - but that was only because I was forced to.

"It would be so disappointing not to be able to go because I still have not seen the film. I have only seen footage and it would have been amazing to be in New York for the premiere."

He said: "I hope that I am not going to have to wait until the film comes out in Britain to watch United 93. It seems strange that I cannot go over for the premiere." Alsamari, who has starred in TV dramas Spooks and Black September, escaped the Iraqi army in 1993 where he crossed the Jordanian border.

He added: "I was shot at by the army when I escaped to Jordan, but stayed there for 18 months before seeking asylum in the UK in 1995. It's incredible what happened to me over there."