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Sami Al-Arian

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Sami Al-Arian.

Sami Amin Al-Arian (born January 14, 1958) is a Palestinian-American computer engineer and university professor who was arrested by the United States government in 2003 on charges of funding terrorists. On December 6, 2005, after 13 days of deliberations, he was acquitted on eight of 17 counts, including criminal charges related to immigration violations, supporting terrorism and perjury and immigration violations, while the jury remained deadlocked on the others. He remains in custody pending a decision on whether to retry him on the deadlocked charges. Dr. Al-Arian's lead defense attorney is Linda Moreno.

Biography

Investigation

The FBI began investigating Al-Arian's alledged connections to Islamist groups on the US list of terrorist organizations in the early 1990s, establishing its first wiretaps for Al-Arian in 1993. In 1995, the FBI began requesting information on Al-Arian and two other professors from USF campus police while refraining from providing the local authorities with any details of the investigation. In 1996, USF officials received more information on the investigation that led university president Betty Castor to suspend Al-Arian, but no charges were brought against him. Investigators did not share recordings and other information gathered for intelligence purposes with the criminal staff of the FBI in the late 1990s, and the university's internal report by Tampa lawyer William Reece Smith did not suggest any grounds for USF to dismiss him.

After his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar was imprisoned on secret evidence, Al-Arian became politically active in the United States. He campaigned against the use of secret evidence in immigration cases and was for George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election, and was photographed with Bush that year in Plant City, Florida. The following year, Al-Arian's son, Abdullah, became a congressional intern, but was by a mistake kicked out of a White House meeting, sparking a walkout by twenty other Muslims in attendance. However, President Bush soon apologized to the Al-Arian family for the incident. On June 20, 2001, Sami Al-Arian's attended Eisenhower Office Building for a briefing, led by Karl Rove, with 160 other Muslim leaders.

Al-Arian appeared on the popular television show The O'Reilly Factor on September 26, shortly after the September 11th attacks. On the program, host Bill O'Reilly, resurrected charges from fifteen years prior that alleged Al-Arian had used a now-defunct university-affiliated Islamic think tank that he headed as a front for Palestinian terrorist organizations. Al-Arian denied all links to terrorists; O'Reilly claimed he believed Al-Arian has terrorist connections.

Following the airing of the program, USF received several death threats for Al-Arian. University president Judy Genshaft placed Al-Arian on paid leave and barred him from the campus on September 27, ostensibly for his own safety and the safety of others at the university.

On December 19, 2001, Genshaft initiated proceedings to revoke Al-Arian's tenure and terminate his employment at the university. Genshaft refused to speak publicly about the Al-Arian case; a spokesman indicated that Genshaft was attempting to fire Al-Arian for supporting terrorism and damaging the university's reputation.

The University filed a lawsuit seeking a pre-emptive judgement that firing Al-Arian would not violate his First Amendment rights in August of 2002. The suit was summarily dismissed on December 15, 2002, with the judge indicating that such an advisory ruling is not within the scope of the court's function.

Arrest

On February 20, 2003, the FBI arrested Al-Arian after indicting him and seven others on 50 terrorism-related charges. United States Attorney General John Ashcroft alleged at a press conference that Al-Arian was the North American head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the secretary of the PIJ's international organization. His trial was set for May 16 2005. Al-Arian's lawyers stated that the delay between arrest and trial constitutes a violation of Al-Arian's right under the United States Constitution to a speedy trial. In response, Judge James Moody cited what he believed to be the complexity and uniqueness of the case as reasons for setting the trial in 2005.

On February 26, Genshaft announced that Al-Arian had been fired on the basis that his non-academic activities created a conflict of interest with the university. Allegations from his indictment were also cited.

Al-Arian also co-founded the Islamic Association for Palestine in 1981. Its daughter organization is the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. InfoCom Corporation, another organization affiliated with IAP, had its offices raided by the U.S. government.

Trial

Al-Arian's Federal District Court trial in Tampa commenced in June, 2005. On December 6, 2005, after 13 days of deliberations, the jury acquitted him on eight of 17 counts, while remaining deadlocked on the others. Of all the 51 charges against the four men, not one was judged as guilty. Al-Arian, however, remains in custody pending a decision on whether to retry him on the deadlocked charges.

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