The Nation - News from Dec. 6, 1985

A Palestinian stowaway aboard a Liberian vessel who jumped ship twice into the Mississippi River--and swam a mile in handcuffs the second time--told federal agents he wants political asylum in the United States. Mohamad Marie, 20, was interviewed at the New Orleans office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service but only briefly because “he’s exhausted,” an INS official said. Attorney David Kattan, who took the case for the American Immigration Lawyers Assn., said Marie was born in Damascus into a Palestinian family. His passport is Syrian and lists him as a refugee, Kattan said.