The crucible
A new wave of ethnic arrests hits Arabs in America
United States government agents arrested suspended University of South Florida (USF) Professor Sami Al-Arian on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder, reports Anayat Durrani .
Al-Arian, 45, was arrested on Thursday in Tampa, Florida, after an early morning raid at his home by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Joint Terrorism Task Force. The Kuwaiti-born professor of Palestinian descent was taken away in handcuffs in front of his family, and was accused of being the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). While being taken away, he told reporters, "it's all about politics."
The 50-count 120-page indictment levelled against Al-Arian also includes the names of seven men, three of whom were arrested along with Al-Arian in Florida and Illinois -- Sameeh Hamoudeh, 42, Hatim Naji Fariz, 30, Ghassan Zeyed Ballut, 41. The other four are believed to be top PIJ leaders and were named as co-conspirators in the indictment. Indicted but living abroad are Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, 45; Bashir Musa Mohamed Nafi, 50; Mohamed Tasir Hassan Al-Khatib; and Abdul-Aziz Awda, 52. Justice Department officials said they plan to have the men arrested and extradited to the US.
The men are believed to be living in England, Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The government also lists an "unindicted co- conspirator" who matches the description of former USF Professor Mazen Al-Najjar, who is Al-Arian's brother-in-law. Dr Al-Najjar was deported last year from the US after being detained in custody without charge for nearly five years on the basis of "secret evidence".
In a press conference Attorney General John Ashcroft charged the men with "financing, extolling and assisting acts of terrorism". The indictment charged the eight men with "operating a racketeering enterprise" since 1984. The defendants allegedly provided financial support for the PIJ through a number of US-based entities. Ashcroft said Al-Arian was the secretary of PIJ's worldwide governing body -- the PIJ organisation was added to the US list of designated foreign terrorist organisations in 1995. Ashcroft said Al-Arian has been actively funding terrorist attacks in Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people, including two Americans. "We make no distinction between those who carry out terrorist attacks and those who knowingly finance, manage and supervise terrorist organisations," said Ashcroft.
Ashcroft outlined the violence of the PIJ he claims Al- Arian helped fund. He said a document discovered during the investigation included a "manifesto of the Islamic Jihad in Palestine" that referred to the US as "the Great-Satan America" and that the goal of the PIJ is "to destroy Israel and to end all Western influence in the region". Ashcroft said that changes in US law under the US Patriot Act -- legislation brought into force after the 11 September attacks -- helped authorities build a case against Al- Arian. The indictment relies on evidence from telephone calls and faxes allegedly between Al-Arian and PIJ officials.
The four men now in custody made their first court appearances on Thursday during which charges of "murder, extortion, money laundering, fraud and misuse of visas" were read aloud. The men are being held without bond pending a detention hearing on Tuesday in the US District Court in Tampa. Some of the charges are punishable by life in prison. The trial is expected to last between six months and one year. Federal agents have been investigating Al-Arian for nearly a decade.
He was previously accused of channeling money to the PIJ movement through an on-campus think-tank. With the assistance of Abdullah Shallah, Al-Arian founded the World and Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE) at USF in 1995. Shallah returned to the Middle East a year later as the new head of the PIJ. The US Justice Department named WISE as a front organisation which has been raising money for Islamic Jihad. The group was raided by the FBI in 1995. Al-Arian also founded the Islamic Concern Project Inc in 1988. He denies all allegations that he was financing the PIJ through a university think- tank and that he is the secretary of the PIJ's worldwide operation.
Al-Arian said he believes his arrest is politically motivated because of his support for the creation of a Palestinian state. Nicolas Matassini, Al-Arian's lawyer, said the indictment was "a work of fiction". He called his client a "political prisoner" and said Al- Arian planned a hunger strike to protest against the charges. Al-Arian is an outspoken critic of Israel and its brutal occupation of Palestine, and his views have made him a target of the government and media.
National focus on Al-Arian reached its climax after his appearance on the right-wing Fox News channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" show on 26 September where host O'Reilly accused him of having "terrorist connections". O'Reilly told Al-Arian if he were with the CIA, "I'd follow you wherever you went." After the show was aired, the USF received angry phone calls, hate mail and death threats against Al-Arian. Al-Arian was suspended with pay in September 2001 after his appearance on Fox. The university alleged that Al-Arian raised money for the PIJ, that he brought "terrorists" to the US to speak to his group in the 1990s and that he abused his position at the university.
Al-Arian's family is from Jerusalem and Jaffa, Palestine. He came to the US in 1975 and attended Southern Illinois University and North Carolina State University. He has been a professor of computer engineering at the University of South Florida since 1986 and gained tenure at the university. He is a father of five and a legal US resident.
