Florida Terrorism Co-Defendant Deported (al-Arian's buddy)

A co-defendant of a former college professor accused of terrorist ties has been released from jail and deported, more than five months after his trial ended, his attorney and federal officials said Wednesday.

Sameeh Hammoudeh's attorney had sued the government this year to try to expedite the deportation, and a federal judge had given immigration officials until Wednesday to deport him or explain why they continued to hold him.

Federal officials Tuesday took Hammoudeh, 46, to Jordan, where he crossed into the West Bank to be reunited with his wife and six children, said his attorney, Stephen Bernstein.

Hammoudeh was charged with raising money in Tampa for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that has carried out suicide bombings against Israel. But jurors acquitted him on all counts, saying there wasn't enough evidence.

The same jury acquitted Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor, of eight counts but deadlocked on nine others. To avoid another trial, Al-Arian pleaded guilty to one count of providing services to the terrorist group's members and will spend roughly another 18 months behind bars before he is deported.

Hammoudeh was acquitted Dec. 6. As part of a plea deal in a separate tax case, he and his wife had agreed to be deported; she was deported in February. A former teaching assistant and doctoral student at the university, Hammoudeh had been in jail since his arrest in February 2003.

The Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement continued to hold him, despite getting permission from Israel on April 20 for him to enter, according to Bernstein.

ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said the delay was partly caused by the need to get documents in order.

I see a chance to 'git 'er done' and scatter this idiot's remains on the streets of Ramallah....his creep lawyer has given the IDF the pertinent info:
"he crossed into the West Bank to be reunited with his wife and six children, said his attorney, Stephen Bernstein."He's home in the West Bank," Bernstein said. "He's in Ramallah" His d/axx wife and kids better stay clear...Hammoudeh is just another dead jihadist that hasn't realized the principal of reciprocity is about to reach out a touch him. Never, ever should have had the benefit of a Christian/Western trial!!! Kill them today, tomorrow and the next day too. That is the least we can do!!!

Al-Arian's close ties to both PIJ and Hamas go back to at least 1995. Al-Arian used a group he founded, the Islamic Committee for Palestine [ICP], to plead for funds for PIJ and Hamas.

Conferences organized by ICP featured Islamic Jihad founder Abdel Aziz-Odeh, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (spiritual leader of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers), leading Hamas official Mohammed Sakr and high-ranking Sudanese terrorist Hassan Turabi, a close ally of Osama bin Laden.
--------- "Democrats' imam was character witness to terror supporter," WorldNetDaily.com, Thursday, July 29, 2004

And Turabi is associaed with Iraq:

* Hassan al-Turabi : Sudanese strongmana, leader of the al Qaeda-affiliated National Islamic Front.* * The first meeting in 1992 between the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) and al Qaeda was brokered by [Sudanese strongman Hassan] al-Turabi. Former IIS deputy director Faruq Hijazi and senior al Qaeda leader [Ayman al] Zawahiri were at the meeting--the first of several between 1992 and 1995 in Sudan. - Source : May 2003 debriefing of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer - "Case Closed: The U.S. government's secret memo detailing cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden," by Stephen F. Hayes, Weekly Standard , November 24, 2003 issue, Volume 009, Issue 11

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