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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
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| 02/20/03 at 16:41:59 |
| I found this on http://smartbrowse.netster.com/news/data/24_ds_158842.asp Let's keep these bro's in our dua's Professor, 7 Others Face Terror Charges A Florida computer engineering professor and seven other men were charged Thursday with overseeing and financing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, which has been blamed for killing more than 100 people in Israel and adjacent territories. The University of South Florida professor, 45-year-old Sami Amin Al-Arian, and three other U.S. residents were arrested after the 50-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa, Fla. The indictment describes Al-Arian as the Islamic Jihad's U.S. leader, head of a terrorist cell in Tampa and secretary of the group's worldwide council. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the indictment sends a message: "We will hunt down the suppliers of terrorist money, we will shut down their sources and we will ensure that both terrorists and their financiers meet the same swift, certain justice of the United States of America." Shortly after his arrest in Tampa, Al-Arian told reporters, "It's all about politics." On forced leave from the university, he has publicly rejected the idea that he has ties to terrorism. His attorney, Nicholas Matassini, said after a preliminary court hearing, "He's a political prisoner right now as we speak." The attorney denounced the indictment as "a work of fiction." The indictment accuses the eight men of operating a criminal racketeering enterprise since 1984 supporting Palestinian Islamic Jihad and with conspiracy to kill and maim people abroad, conspiracy to provide material support to the group, extortion, visa fraud, perjury and other charges. Each defendant could face life in prison if convicted. Al-Arian and two others were arrested in Tampa and a fourth man was arrested in Chicago. The other four are leaders of the group who live abroad and are being sought, Ashcroft said. Palestinian Islamic Jihad was founded in the late 1970s, and its roots go back to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt that also spawned the Hamas terrorist group. Its goals, according to the indictment, are to destroy Israel and end Western influence in the Middle East. The group's alleged killings have included suicide bombings, car bombings and drive-by shootings, including a June 5, 2002, suicide attack in Haifa, Israel, that killed 20 and injured 50. Among the people whose deaths are blamed on the organization are two U.S. citizens: Alisa Flatow, 20, and Shoshana Ben-Yishai, 16. Alisa Flatow, then a junior at Brandeis University, died in a 1995 bus bombing in the Gaza Strip. Her father, Stephen Flatow of West Orange, N.J., said Thursday, "This demonstrates the old saw about the wheels of justice - they grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine." The indictment describes numerous intercepted telephone calls and faxes in which those charged are said to have discussed Islamic Jihad bombings and other attacks, financial problems and whether to ally more closely with terror groups Hezbollah and Hamas. There is no mention of al-Qaida. The men frequently talk in apparent code, substituting words like "magazine" and "shirt" for thousands of dollars they were allegedly funneling to Islamic Jihad. To date, Ashcroft said, the Justice Department has investigated 70 terrorist financing or support organizations, winning 23 convictions and freezing $113 million in assets of 62 organizations. The Islamic Jihad fund-raising and other alleged activities were centered on two organizations in Tampa: the Islamic Committee for Palestine - originally called Islamic Concern Project Inc. - and the World and Islamic Studies Enterprise or WISE, according to the indictment. Most of those charged also had some connection to the University of South Florida at one time or another. Besides Al-Arian, those arrested were: -Sameeh Hammoudeh, 42, born in the West Bank, now a resident of Temple Terrace, Fla. He is an instructor at the University of South Florida and administrator at the Islamic Academy of Florida. -Hatim Naji Fariz, 30, born in Puerto Rico and now living in Spring Hill, Fla. He is a manager at a medical clinic. -Ghassan Zayed Ballut, 41, a West Bank native now living in Tinley Park, Ill., and owner of a small business. Those living abroad were: -Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, 45, a Gaza Strip native and now resident of Damascus, Syria. He is described as the worldwide leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a former instructor at the University of South Florida and former executive director of the World Islam and Studies Enterprise. -Bashir Musa Mohammed Nafi, 50, originally from Egypt and now living in Oxfordshire, England. The indictment calls him the United Kingdom leader of the group; he also was formerly associated with WISE. -Mohammed Tasir Hassan Al-Khatib, 46, originally from the Gaza Strip and now living in Beirut. He is described as treasurer of the organization and formerly of the Islamic Committee for Palestine in Tampa. -Abd AL Aziz Awda, 52, born in Israel and now imam of the Al Qassam Mosque in Gaza Strip. The indictment calls him the founder and "spiritual leader" of the group. |
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