'Halt deportation' plea to Blunkett

Aamer Anwar and SSP MSPs outside the prison

The government is being urged not to deport an Algerian man arrested in Glasgow in an anti-terrorism operation.

Ali Serir, 28, a chef, is in Greenock Prison and is due to be sent back to Algeria on Friday.

Mr Serir, whose wife Karen is six months pregnant, was detained in February but no charges were brought. He has been held in jail under immigration rules.

Campaigners, including the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, Tommy Sheridan, met him in prison on Monday and later called on Home Secretary David Blunkett to halt the deportation on compassionate grounds.

Mr Sheridan said: "Karen and Ali are a normal, loving couple expecting their first child.

"They have lived peacefully in Glasgow for over 18 months. Their lives have now been shattered by an inhumane and racist approach by the immigration authorities.

"Algeria is a dangerous country, yet the authorities are now threatening to tear Ali from his pregnant wife and send him back to danger.

Karen Serir: "There has to be hope"

"It is a disgrace that we are treating a human being like this."

Mr Sheridan added that he would be asking First Minister Jack McConnell to intervene on Mr Serir's behalf.

Karen Serir, 31, said she still held out hope that her husband's deportation could be halted.

She insisted the couple's marriage was genuine and said she was concerned for the future of herself and her unborn child.

She said: "I just feel there has got to be hope - I don't think he should be in there in the first place and I don't think he should be deported.

"We have been married and I feel as if we are being treated unfairly. We have got a mortgage, we are both working and we are expecting a baby - it is a genuine marriage."

Lawyer Aamer Anwar said he would be pressing for either a judicial review at the Court of Session in Edinburgh or a direct application to Mr Blunkett.