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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 23, 2002
TAMPA -- Sami Al-Arian is caught in an ever-expanding limbo. He is a professor, but is not allowed to teach. He is a legal resident of America, but is not a citizen -- of this or any other country.
And now federal prosecutors have announced that they are delving into his life, but for what he does not know.
On the morning after he learned he was the subject of a federal investigation, Sami Al-Arian weaved through some 1,000 people at Al-Qassam Mosque, hugging and chatting with worshipers. He gave a sermon Friday that lasted for 30 minutes, touching on struggle and unity, standard themes for the annual Festival of the Sacrifice.
After the ceremony, he spoke to a reporter. "This is all about politics," he said. "And it's a sad day in America when politics is used to manipulate justice."
In a highly unusual move, U.S. Attorney Mac Cauley released a two-sentence statement Thursday that acknowledged his office was conducting an ongoing investigation "into the conduct and activities" of Al Arian, a Palestinian supporter accused of having ties to terrorists.
While Cauley's office said little else about the investigation, the announcement has sparked considerable debate about what it means for Al-Arian and for University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft, who is considering whether to fire the tenured professor of computer engineering.
Al-Arian's lawyer, Robert F. McKee, said Friday that federal authorities have not contacted him or his client for interviews or any other information. He said that while Cauley made the announcement under the "cloak of public safety," it will make it easier for Genshaft to fire Al-Arian, who is currently on paid leave.
Americans live by the motto "innocent until proven guilty," McKee said, but the federal government seems willing to bypass that step in Al-Arian's case.
"It appears that there is a cozy relationship between USF and law enforcement, and law enforcement is trying to ride to the rescue," he said.
McKee, a labor lawyer, said he was lining up a criminal defense attorney for Al-Arian, who came to the United States in 1975 but has never been granted citizenship.
McKee questioned what the government could be looking into, given that the FBI investigated Al-Arian in the mid 1990s without filing charges.
"They've had their eye on him for years," McKee said. "What kind of crime could he have perpetrated under all that scrutiny?"
In the mid 1990s, FBI agents suspected that an Islamic think tank Al-Arian operated at USF was a front for Middle Eastern terrorists. A former head of the think tank, Ramadan Abdulah Shallah, left Tampa in 1995 and soon resurfaced as the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization.
Al-Arian also was accused of raising money for Palestinian groups with ties to terrorism.
The FBI never formally closed its investigation. But if federal agents are indeed looking into allegations that stem from Al-Arian's past activities, could the statute of limitations rule out filing charges?
Not likely, said former federal prosecutor Steve Crawford. Banking, racketeering and other laws allow any creative federal prosecutor to get around the time limits.
"The statute of limitations in the federal system is largely illusory because there are so many different ways to charge a person," Crawford said.
Al-Arian's current problems began last fall after his alleged ties to terrorists were aired on national television. That created a huge backlash aimed both at him and USF, which said it received hate mail and several death threats.
In December, after a 12-1 vote for dismissal by USF's board of trustees, Genshaft notified Al-Arian that she intended to fire him.
Cauley's announcement shouldn't have any influence on Genshaft's decision, said Thor Halvorssen, spokesman for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit group dedicated to free speech and academic freedom.
Halvorssen argued that Genshaft insisted the dispute was not about academic freedom but about a professor who violated his contract. She said his presence on campus disrupted the university's orderly operation. She said he had failed to make clear that he was speaking for himself and not the school.
While Halvorssen called Genshaft's reasoning "bogus," he said she can't now fire Al-Arian simply because he's under investigation.
"Our nation has a lot of history of people being persecuted for suspicions," he said. "You cannot fire him for being under suspicion. History shows that she will lose that battle and, in the long run, taint the university."
Gov. Jeb Bush, who supported the trustees recommendation to fire Al-Arian, said he thought Cauley's announcement justified Genshaft's initial decision to suspend Al-Arian.
"She got a lot of grief that I think was undeserved," Bush said.
Although Florida's senior senator, Bob Graham, was recently briefed by the FBI about the case and met with Genshaft on Monday, a spokesman said Graham has not taken a position on whether Al-Arian should be fired and did not try to influence the U.S. attorney.
Graham has expressed concern about ensuring academic freedom, said Paul Anderson, Graham's deputy chief of staff.
"As far as I know, he played no role in getting the U.S. attorney's office to make the statement," Anderson said. "He wasn't lobbying for it and did not insist the U.S. attorney make a statement."
-- Times staff writers Bill Adair, Stephen Buckley and Stephen Hegarty contributed to this report.