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STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO

WASHINGTON, DC - The Attorney General today vacated the stay that was issued on December 11, 2000, in the case of Mazen Al-Najjar. The Attorney General issued the following statement:

• "Mazen Al-Najjar is an alien subject to a final deportation order who has been illegally present in the United States for many years. I continue to believe that the nation has been well served by the efforts of the INS to remove Mr. Al-Najjar expeditiously from the country. Two decisions have affirmed his deportability based solely on public record evidence. The matter is now on review in the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals and will be argued on January 9, 2001. We expect a decision to follow in the next few months. We anticipate that he could be deported from the United States soon."

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