US couple cleared of killing adopted daughter unable to leave Qatar Doha: Two Americans were acquitted on Sunday of wrongdoing by an appeals court in the death of their adopted daughter from Ghana after a nearly two-year legal ordeal. But their attempt to leave Qatar was thwarted hours later when immigration officials refused to allow them to depart Doha's airport. In a roller-coaster day of legal ups and downs, the couple, Matthew and Grace Huang, of Los Angeles, had their passports confiscated in the airport departure area as US diplomatic officials, including the US ambassador, Dana Shell Smith, were in private meetings with Qatari officials nearby. "Whatever excitement they had has been replaced by fear," Eric Volz, a member of the legal team that has been representing the Huangs, said in a telephone interview from the airport. It's like a showdown here. He said that it was unclear why the Huangs had not been permitted to leave and that the office of the Qatar attorney general might have ordered the couple to remain in the country pending a possible further appeal of their acquittal by the prosecution. Qatari lawyers said such an appeal is unusual but is allowed. It was also possible that Qatari bureaucracy delayed their departure and that a written order rescinding the travel ban was required, not just the appellate court's ruling. But Mr Volz said the Huangs had not expected a delay. "The question we're asking is, 'Why are we still here?'" he said later in the evening. The court ruled that they could travel. US diplomatic officials in Qatar declined to comment on the delay. In a statement, Secretary of State John Kerry said, "We are deeply concerned about new delays that have prevented their departure." Mr Kerry said he spoke with Qatar's foreign minister "and called on the government to immediately implement the court's decision and permit their return to the United States without further delay." The judge said the prosecution's case against them had been deeply flawed. The Huangs immediately departed the courtroom and sought to make arrangements to leave Qatar and fly home to reunite with their two other children, both adopted boys, from Ghana and Uganda. "This has been an emotional trial for me and my family," Matthew Huang said in a statement. Grace and I want to go home and be reunited with our sons. We have been unable to grieve our daughter's death. But we want to thank the judge for today's decision.