TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) — Four men branded by Washington as members of an Islamic terrorist group were arrested on Thursday on charges of conspiring to kill more than 100 people in Israel and the occupied territories.
The four were among eight alleged members of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad charged in a 50-count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Tampa, according to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The other four suspects were overseas and not in custody.
The defendants, accused of operating a racketeering enterprise since 1984, include a Florida university professor who has been under investigation for years but had never been charged with a crime. They face the possibility of life in prison if convicted.
Charges against them included conspiracy to provide material support to the group, conspiracy to violate emergency economic sanctions, extortion, perjury, obstructing justice and immigration fraud.
“The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is responsible for the murder of over 100 innocent people in Israel, in the occupied territories, including at least two young Americans,” Ashcroft said in Washington.
Among the attacks cited in the indictment was the June 5, 2002, suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel, which killed 20 people and wounded 50.
“The individuals named in this indictment play a substantial role in international terrorism — they are material supporters of foreign terrorist organizations. They finance, extol and assist acts of terror,” Ashcroft said.
“We make no distinction between those who carry out terrorist attacks and those who knowingly finance, manage or supervise terrorist organizations. We will bring justice to the full network of terror,” he said at a news conference.
PROFESSOR ARRESTED
Among those arrested was a Palestinian professor, Sami Al-Arian, 45, who taught at the University of South Florida. He was described in the indictment as Islamic Jihad’s U.S. leader and secretary of its worldwide governing body.
Al-Arian, who has lived in the United States since 1975 and is a legal U.S. resident, has said he opposes terrorism and has denied wrongdoing. His attorney told reporters in Florida that Al-Arian was a political prisoner arrested because of his support for the creation of a Palestinian state, and that he planned a hunger strike in protest.
“We deny each and every allegation in this work of fiction called an indictment,” said his attorney, Nicholas Matassini.
Also arrested in the Tampa area were Sameeh Hammoudeh, 42, a student and instructor at the University of South Florida, and Hatim Naji Fariz, 30, a medical clinic’s manager.
Al-Arian, Hammoudeh and Fariz appeared briefly before a federal magistrate in Tampa, who ordered they be held without bond pending a Tuesday hearing.
Arrested in the Chicago area was Ghassan Zayed Ballut, 41, a small business owner. A magistrate in Chicago ordered that he be held without bail and sent to Florida to face the charges.
Jim Fennerty, a lawyer for Ballut, accused the government of engaging in “over-indicting” recently in anti-terrorism cases. “I don’t think that anyone who’s accused of terrorism in this country can get a fair trial anywhere,” he said.
The four defendants overseas are:
— Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, 45, a resident of Damascus, Syria, and a former instructor at the University of South Florida who was described as the group’s worldwide leader;
— Bashir Musa Mohammed Nafi, 50, a resident of Oxfordshire, England, and a professor at Muslim College. He was described as a founder of the group and member of its worldwide governing body;
— Mohammed Tasir Hassan Al-Khatib, 46, a resident of Beirut and the group’s treasurer. He formerly had been associated with a Palestinian group in Tampa;
— and Abd Al Aziz Awda, 52, a Gaza Strip resident and the imam of a mosque who was described as a founder and spiritual leader of the group.
The University of South Florida tried to fire Al-Arian last year after receiving death threats when allegations he had ties to terrorist groups were aired on television.
Al-Arian’s brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar, who also taught at the university, was deported to Lebanon last year after being held in U.S. jails without charges for nearly five years as an alleged security threat.
In Washington, the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged the government to air the evidence publicly.
Otherwise, it said, “This action could leave the impression that Al-Arian’s arrest is based on political considerations, not legitimate national security concerns.”
Additional reporting by James Vicini in Washington and Mike Conlon in Chicago
