Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend is facing deportation to Afghanistan.

Paparazzi photographer Adnan Ghalib could be forced to return to the country - which he left when he was just five - or spend seven years in a US prison if he is found guilty of three serious offences against a court official.

The 36-year-old - who initially moved to Birmingham, in the UK, before later relocating to the US to work - is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery and hit-and-run for allegedly using his car to mow down a man attempting to serve him a restraining order to stay away from Britney in Los Angeles.

A Los Angeles police source said: "The country of citizenship listed on the legal files is where someone convicted of a serious crime will be deported to whether they hold a green card or not. There is some confusion on his court documents over where he comes from. Some list the country as Afghanistan, but another states his nationality as British."

The alleged incidents happened on February 11, when a process server visited Ghalib's flat and tried to hand him legal papers detailing a restraining order filed against him by Britney's father Jamie.

The process server claims Ghalib ran him over and fled the scene, leaving them with a broken wrist, cuts and scratches.

The source explained: "If found guilty he could be jailed for a number of years. These are some of the most serious crimes in the US. The American justice system comes down heavily on people convicted of such felonies."

Britney dated Ghalib from the end of 2007 until March last year, and the photographer faced a barrage of criticism for trying to control her life while she was in a vulnerable mental state.

He later attempted to sell a kiss-and-tell story about their relationship and it has been reported he has a sex tape with footage of Britney stripping off naked apart from a pink wig and romping with her former lover.

Ghalib - who met the ￡116,000 bail sum - is due to appear in court for the hearing on April 2.

(China Daily/Agencies, March 13, 2009)