Former Professor, Three Others to Face Jury on Terrorism Finance Charges {Sami Al-Arian}

AP ^ | 5-15-05 | Vickie Chachere

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Ten years ago, American student Alisa Flatow boarded a bus headed to a Gaza Strip beach resort for a much needed break from her studies.

At the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom, a young man sat in a van loaded with explosives. As the bus approached, he steered his rolling bomb at it with ferocious speed and slammed into the bus' side.

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Now her parents are looking for justice half a world away in Tampa, where a former computer science professor and three others are going on trial on charges they helped fund the terrorist group that carried out the bombing. Jury selection begins Monday.

Sami Al-Arian, a University of South Florida professor and nationally known Palestinian rights activist, was already secretly under investigation by FBI foreign intelligence agents at the time of the bombing.

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In a 53-count indictment, Al-Arian, Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatim Naji Fariz and Ghassan Zayed Ballut are accused of racketeering, conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists.

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"Much of what people are saying about Sami Al-Arian could have been said likewise about Nelson Mandela," attorney William Moffitt said.

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Prosecutors contend there is direct evidence of Al-Arian's involvement with actual attacks. The indictment alleges that in 1993, Al-Arian sent four wire transfers of nearly $2,000 each to the relatives of four convicted Islamic Jihad terrorists who had been convicted of the murder of three Israelis.

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Al-Arian's attorneys question how a supposed dangerous terrorist financier could he have gained access to White House and met with Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Nearly two dozen other prominent political and government leaders from both parties - Hilary Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott and Dennis Hastert among them - are reported by Al-Arian's attorneys to have had contact with him.

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Link to pertinent Newsweek article Friends in High Places

One only has to visit the sites that track the activities of our enemies in America and see their M.O. of purposely putting on a "friendly face" to American audiences to discover how conniving and calculating they are-- truly unnerving and frightening!

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Excerpt from above Newsweek article:

"May 12 - The lawyer for a Florida-based professor accused of leading a violent Palestinian terror group will seek to embarrass the U.S. government next month by introducing evidence that his client attended numerous meetings at the White House and met with high-level figures in both political parties, including Hillary Clinton and White House political director Karl Rove, according to recent court records."