Posted on 08/31/2005 7:13:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A fired university professor accused of supporting terrorists denied ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in a filmed 1994 interview, which was played at his trial Wednesday.
During the interview for a PBS documentary on Middle East terror groups operating in the United States, Sami Al-Arian was asked if he had ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. "There was never an affiliation," he replied.
Prosecutors have presented intercepted phone calls and letters and played videotaped speeches that they say show Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor, was the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's top official in the United States.
The organization is listed as a terrorist group by the State Department and is blamed for more than 100 deaths in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Al-Arian and three co-defendants are accused of raising money for the group.
In the interview played for jurors Wednesday, PBS journalist Steve Emerson also questioned the purpose of the Islamic Committee for Palestine, an entity Al-Arian founded that prosecutors say was a front for support of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Al-Arian replied that the committee published a magazine and was formed by people who simply wanted to "speak their minds."
Al-Arian and his co-defendants deny they supported violent acts and say they are being persecuted for views that are unpopular with the U.S. government.
The trial began in June and is expected to run several more months.
Too bad, they have him on video in his Jihadi moments.
Is this the turd OReilly went after for about a year?
This puke is as guilty as where he belongs!
Yup.
He's gonna get obliviated.
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