<p class="title">A Syrian man has been arrested after almost seven months stranded in a Malaysian airport, an official said on Tuesday, in a bizarre saga that drew comparisons with hit movie "The Terminal".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hassan al-Kontar had been stuck at the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport since March 7, when officials refused to let him board a flight to Ecuador.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kontar, reportedly sought by authorities in his homeland for failing to serve in the military, was also refused entry into Cambodia and not allowed back into Malaysia due to visa issues.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 36-year-old was left stranded in the terminal, surviving on donated airline meals and washing in the toilets.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He made repeated appeals in a series of YouTube videos, lamenting that rights groups had refused him help and no one would take him in.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Malaysian immigration chief Mustafar Ali said that police had finally decided to arrest Kontar and remove him from the airport Monday, as his posts -- which were garnering growing media attention -- had embarrassed Malaysia.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"His statements on social media shamed Malaysia," Ali was cited as saying by official news agency Bernama.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"(He) was arrested yesterday because he was in a restricted area without a boarding pass." Officials will now work with the Syrian authorities to get him deported to his homeland, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A civil war has been raging in Syria for the past seven years, leaving more than 350,000 people dead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kontar's case is reminiscent of the 2004 film "The Terminal," in which Tom Hanks plays a man who finds himself stuck in a New York airport after his government collapses, rendering his papers useless.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Reports say Kontar had been working in the United Arab Emirates but was deported to Malaysia in January 2017. However, he overstayed a three-month tourist visa and is now blacklisted, meaning he cannot re-enter the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He flew to Cambodia but was refused entry before being sent back to Kuala Lumpur airport on March 7.</p>
<p class="title">A Syrian man has been arrested after almost seven months stranded in a Malaysian airport, an official said on Tuesday, in a bizarre saga that drew comparisons with hit movie "The Terminal".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hassan al-Kontar had been stuck at the budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport since March 7, when officials refused to let him board a flight to Ecuador.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kontar, reportedly sought by authorities in his homeland for failing to serve in the military, was also refused entry into Cambodia and not allowed back into Malaysia due to visa issues.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 36-year-old was left stranded in the terminal, surviving on donated airline meals and washing in the toilets.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He made repeated appeals in a series of YouTube videos, lamenting that rights groups had refused him help and no one would take him in.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Malaysian immigration chief Mustafar Ali said that police had finally decided to arrest Kontar and remove him from the airport Monday, as his posts -- which were garnering growing media attention -- had embarrassed Malaysia.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"His statements on social media shamed Malaysia," Ali was cited as saying by official news agency Bernama.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"(He) was arrested yesterday because he was in a restricted area without a boarding pass." Officials will now work with the Syrian authorities to get him deported to his homeland, he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A civil war has been raging in Syria for the past seven years, leaving more than 350,000 people dead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kontar's case is reminiscent of the 2004 film "The Terminal," in which Tom Hanks plays a man who finds himself stuck in a New York airport after his government collapses, rendering his papers useless.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Reports say Kontar had been working in the United Arab Emirates but was deported to Malaysia in January 2017. However, he overstayed a three-month tourist visa and is now blacklisted, meaning he cannot re-enter the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He flew to Cambodia but was refused entry before being sent back to Kuala Lumpur airport on March 7.</p>