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Did a Muslim Professor Use Activism as a Cloak for Terror?

(Newsweek) Michael Isikoff - Last week federal agents arrested Sami Al-Arian, a University of South Florida engineering professor, and charged him with being a top leader of one of the world's most violent terrorist organizations: Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed group that has carried out suicide bombings that have killed more than 100 Israelis, as well as two Americans. Far from keeping to the shadows, Al-Arian repeatedly lobbied Congress on civil-liberties issues, and made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to influential members of Congress. Using national-security wiretaps, agents began monitoring Al-Arian's phone calls as early as 1994. Yet federal agents say they couldn't use much of their evidence because of tight restrictions that kept them from sharing intelligence with criminal investigators. ("The wall," as the feds called it, has now been lowered.)
2003-02-28 00:00:00
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