BEIRUT, August 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The arrival of a Palestinian professor controversially deported from the United States aboard a U.S. military aircraft sparked a chorus of protest in Lebanon, as Parliament speaker expressed his outrage that an Arab country should become an accomplice to the deportation of a Palestinian academic who had been detained for almost five years in the United States before being unceremoniously expelled.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri expressed his anger saying that the U.S. has invaded Beirut airport which is at the least an infiltration and a violation of the principle of national sovereignty, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday, August 26.

"Has Lebanon come to such a pretty pass that it allows a U.S. official plane ... to invade Beirut International Airport and dump its cargo as if nothing had happened?"

Berri demanded to know if the plane had been given clearance to land by airport authorities and, if so, whether they had sought the government's go-ahead.

"If they knew about it, then how could they deal with such an issue that has a political and sovereignty dimension without the agreement of the government," Berri told reporters.

"And if they did not know about it, then how did they allow an official American plane to land, take-off and leave a Palestinian deportee on Lebanese territory?"

"This operation is at the least an infiltration and a violation of the principle of national sovereignty," he charged, demanding a formal complaint to the U.S. ambassador.

"An investigation has been opened into the circumstances of Mr. Mazen al-Najjar's arrival at Beirut International Airport on Saturday, August 24, aboard a U.S. military plane from Rome," a foreign ministry official told AFP on Monday.

"The ministry is awaiting the results of the inquiry to adopt the necessary measures."

Najjar's arrival aboard a U.S. plane which had already been turned away in the Gulf state of Bahrain sparked howls of anger from across the political spectrum, AFP said.

One of Najjar's relatives in Lebanon told AFP Monday that Najjar had "obtained an entry visa to Lebanon at Beirut International Airport after General Security agents had interrogated him on the reasons for his expulsion."

The relative said Najjar did not wish to speak to the media and was staying at his sister's home in Beirut "temporarily".

The academic was first arrested and held without charges by U.S. authorities in May 1997 following accusations he had links with the Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad.

He was released in December 2000 but was arrested again in November 2001 and held in solitary confinement, also without any charges or proof, until his deportation.

A Palestinian official in Lebanon who did not wish to be identified told AFP on Monday that Najjar was not a member of Islamic Jihad, which the U.S. claim is a terrorist organization.

Al-Najjar, 44, was originally deported abroad a special U.S. immigration department plane to Bahrain but was refused entry there, according to his wife, quoted in the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat, AFP)reported.

After a 25-hour wait in Rome, U.S. officials on the plane noticed he had an entry visa to Lebanon on his passport and flew him to Beirut.

His wife said Najjar was treated by U.S. authorities “like a parcel that they wanted to throw out,” while family members said that the professor was planning to leave Lebanon for an unspecified African country within 48 hours.

Randall Marshall of the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday, August 22, that holding Najjar on secret evidence was unconstitutional and that “the 10 months that he spent in solitary confinement was nothing more than the raw exercise of government power.”

In a statement released Thursday, August 22, Rep. David Bonior (D-MI), a longtime supporter of Muslim and Arab causes, and personally involved in Al-Najjar’s case, said, “The injustice of secret evidence made possible the wrongful jailing of Dr. Al-Najjar and has now culminated in his unjust deportation.