Al-Arian to Be Deported
Charles Johnson
Fri Apr 14, 2006 at 3:50 pm PDT • Views: 286
Islamic Jihad operative Sami Al-Arian is going to be deported: Ex-Professor in Terror Case to Be Deported.
The Associated Press has decided to call him a “Palestinian rights activist.”
WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have decided to deport a former Florida professor and longtime Palestinian rights activist after failing to convict him on charges he helped finance terrorist attacks in Israel.
Sami Al-Arian, who had met with U.S. presidents and other political leaders before his terrorism indictment in 2003, reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge and be deported, two lawyers familiar with the case said Friday. The arrangement requires the approval of a judge.
It was not clear where Al-Arian would be sent.
Al-Arian has remained in jail since a jury in Tampa, Fla., acquitted him in December of eight of the 17 federal charges against him and deadlocked on the rest. Stung by the defeat in the high-profile case, prosecutors pondered whether to retry him on the remaining charges, including three conspiracy counts, or deport him.
Frank says: