A Tigard man was reunited with his family today and vowed to clear his name, one month after U.S. authorities initially blocked him from flying home after a trip to Libya.

A cheer went up as

emerged to greet dozens of family members and friends who were waiting for him at Portland International Airport.

Tarhuni said he's never been given an explanation by the FBI about why they were questioning him. "It's been very, very frustrating," he said, adding that he's had "a lot of sleepless nights."

"I do intend to clear my name," he said. "I do intend to restore my travel privileges."

Tarhuni was accompanied home by his lawyer, Tom Nelson, on a flight from Amsterdam.

"He never hurt anybody," said Tarhuni's wife, Nariman Abdusamed, as she held back tears. "This is his country. I just want this country to be fair."

The crowd had to wait about an hour and a half after the plane landed while Tarhuni completed paperwork before they could see him.

Tarhuni had been in Libya assisting Tigard-based relief organization Medical Teams International. But as he prepared to head back to Tigard a month ago, he was denied boarding on a flight out of Tunisia. The FBI instead interrogated him and questioned him about his religious beliefs, family members said. Tarhuni, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of the Portland area for 35 years, was born in Libya and is Muslim.

Tarhuni urged Muslim and Arab people to work to educate the FBI about their lives and religion in hopes of putting an end to racial profiling.

Beth Anne Steele, spokeswoman for the Portland FBI, declined to comment, saying that federal privacy rights bar the agency from commenting on “what may or may not be under investigation.” Agent Bryan Zinn, who interrogated Tarhuni in Tunisia, did not respond to a request left through Steele for comment.

Tarhuni is one of two Muslim men from the Portland area whose return was blocked by U.S. authorities for unknown reasons. The other, Mustafa Elogbi, 60, of Portland, was also in Libya where he was visiting family after the ouster of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi.

Elogbi had flown out of Tunisia last month, but was detained while on a layover in London, his wife said. There, British authorities interrogated him and held in solitary confinement for two days before forcing him to return to Tunisia. They told him it was at the request of the U.S. government, his wife said.

Elogbi, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and has lived in the Portland area for 30-plus years, was initially cleared to return with Tarhuni today. But the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia on Saturday told him that he would have to fly at least 24 hours after Tarhuni. He now plans to leave next week, after Nelson is able to return to accompany him.