TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Key Players In The Sami Al-Arian Trial

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2007

Name: Sami Al-Arian
Background: Born in Kuwait, a former resident of Temple Terrace and a former tenured University of South Florida computer science professor. President of the Islamic Committee for Palestine, which an Al-Arian associate publicly described in 1991 as "the active arm of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine." Incorporated the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), an Islamic think tank that worked with a USF faculty group to organize seminars and share libraries. Israeli officials say Al-Arian helped create and then served on a governing board for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ); Al-Arian denies it.

Name: Sameeh Hammoudeh
Background: Born in the West Bank, a resident of Temple Terrace and an instructor at USF. He was a former graduate student at USF who was sponsored by WISE. While a student he conducted research with the political science faculty. Hammoudeh was also an administrator at the Islamic Academy of Florida. He was an alleged member of the PIJ in the Tampa area.

Name: Hatim Naji Fariz
Background: Born in Puerto Rico, a resident of Spring Hill and a manager for a medical clinic. Fariz was an alleged PIJ member and he allegedly ran an Illinois-based charity called the American Muslim Care Network.

Name: Ghassan Zayed Ballut
Background: Born in the West Bank, a resident of Tinley Park, Ill. and a small business owner. Ballut was an alleged member of a PIJ cell in Chicago. Ballut reserved an auditorium for a 1991 rally to memorialize a gunfight four years earlier between Islamic Jihad fighters and Israelis that ignited the Palestinian intifada against Israel. The Islamic Jihad's spiritual leader, Abdel Aziz Odeh, appeared at the rally where Ballut said, "May our guns be pointed one way … to the chest of the enemy.'' During a 1998 grand jury appearance in Tampa, he refused to answer questions, his attorney said.

Name: Ramadan Abdullah Shallah
Background: Born in the Gaza Strip, a resident of Damascus, Syria, Shallah is the current worldwide leader of the PIJ and a member of the PIJ's Shura Council. Shallah, formerly of Tampa, worked with Al-Arian in the Islamic Committee for Palestine and was the former executive director of WISE. He taught Middle East studies as an adjunct professor at USF six months prior to his appointment as leader of the Islamic Jihad. Shallah was appointed secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in October 1995. By November, he was designated by the United States as a Specially Designated Terrorist.

Name: Bashir Musa Mohammed Nafi
Background: Born in Egypt, a resident of Oxfordshire, England and a professor at Muslim College teaching history and Islamic studies. Nafi was a former WISE researcher. A 1995 U.S. search warrant described Nafi as a "significant leading member" of the Islamic Jihad. He wrote much of the group's early ideology. Israeli officials claim while Nafi lived in England in the late 1980s he was a communications link between terrorists in the field and the Islamic Jihad's headquarters in Syria. He adamantly denies ever being involved with the Islamic Jihad. In 1996 Nafi was deported from the United States back to England for visa violations.

Name: Mohammed Tasir Hassan Al-Khatib
Background: Born in the Gaza Strip, a resident in the Beirut, Lebanon, he is Al-Arian's brother-in-law. He was formerly associated with the ICP in Tampa. The government says he was treasurer of the Islamic Jihad and a member of the Shura Council, the terrorist group's central advisory committee.

Name: Abd Al Aziz Awda
Background: Born in Gabaly, Israel, a resident of the Gaza Strip and Imam of the Al Qassam Mosque in the Gaza Strip. Awda, also known as Abdel Aziz-Odeh, was a founder and spiritual leader of the PIJ and a member of the Shura Council. He helped the Islamic Jihad gain followers through his preaching at the Al-Qassam mosque in the Gaza Strip. In January 1995, Awda was designated by the United States as a specially designated terrorist. He is believed to have left the movement in the late 1990s in a disagreement with the group's leadership.

Name: Mazen Al-Najjar
Background: He was deported from the U.S. in August 2002. He spent 3 1/2 years in jail while appealing his deportation order. His case became a rallying point for civil libertarians after federal investigators used classified evidence to argue Al-Najjar's release posed a threat to national security. A federal judge ruled that the use of that evidence violated Al-Najjar's due process rights and an immigration judge later ordered his release, saying he saw no evidence connecting Al-Najjar to terrorism. He was not named in the original 2003 indictment, but referred to as "Unindicted Co-Conspirator Twelve.'' He is charged with racketeering, conspiracy to murder people outside the United States, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, obstruction of justice and perjury. His whereabouts are unknown. After being deported to Lebanon, he was forced out of that country. Relatives only say he is in an Arab state with friendly relations with the United States.

Sources: The Tampa Tribune, U.S. Department of Justice

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT