Opinion: Al-Arian in limbo

The news that federal authorities are still actively investigating University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian's links to Islamic terrorist groups should delay USF president Judy Genshaft's decision on whether to fire Al-Arian. It would be premature for Genshaft to make a final determination on Al-Arian before the FBI does.

Although the university has strained to make a more technical case against Al-Arian, the pressure to fire him is driven almost entirely by his purported activities in support of Islamic terrorist groups. In 1995, the FBI raided the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), a since-disbanded organization founded by Al-Arian as a think tank affiliated with USF. Investigators alleged that WISE and a related Islamic charity connected to Al-Arian had done fundraising and organizational work for Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups. Still, Al-Arian was not charged with a crime, and the investigation into organizations associated with him was thought to have been closed years ago.

If the new investigation substantiates charges that Al-Arian used a think tank and charity as fronts for terrorist groups, the status of his employment at USF will be the least of his worries. On the other hand, although Al-Arian need not have committed a crime to have committed a fireable offense, the political pressure to remove him from campus presumably would wane if the investigation exonerates him of criminal wrongdoing.

Recent events already have eased the pressure on Genshaft. USF trustees, more mindful of issues of free speech and academic freedom, haven't pressed Genshaft for a quick decision on Al-Arian since they voted last December to recommend his firing. National support for Al-Arian also waned as many of his new advocates belatedly became aware of his hateful comments about Israel and the United States and his links to Islamic extremists.

In any case, federal authorities owe it to Al-Arian and USF to clarify his status one way or the other as soon as possible. For years, Al-Arian has been left in limbo, never charged with a crime, but never removed from official suspicion. Having taken the unusual step last month of announcing his office is investigating Al-Arian, interim U.S. Attorney Mac Cauley should be equally open in divulging the results of that investigation.

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