Tampabay: Al-Arian's lawyers cite size of investigation

TAMPA -- Federal agents taped tens of thousands of telephone conversations while surveilling Sami Al-Arian and the other men recently accused of running the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to statements in court Tuesday.

Agents also seized more than 1,000 audiotapes and videotapes as part of other search warrants and received additional records from Israeli officials.

Those revelations about the size of the investigation, heard on the last day of a bail hearing for the former USF professor and three other defendants, had defense attorneys predicting it will be at least two years before a trial starts.

Simply copying and translating all the conversations, most in Arabic, could take months, they said. After that, they have to determine the context of the conversations and if they really say what the prosecutors claim they say.

"We haven't heard a tape. We haven't seen a transcript," said Al-Arian's attorney Nick Matassini in trying to win the release of his client on bail. "You cannot always rely on the government's interpretation of what is on tapes."

The four-day bail hearing ended Tuesday. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo said he would consider all the evidence in deciding whether to issue any or all of the men bail. He did not set a date for that ruling.

In the electronic surveillance, which began in the mid 1990s, federal agents compiled more than 1,000 reels of taped conversations, with each reel containing a "substantial" number of conversations, said prosecutor Walter "Terry" Furr.

The agents applied under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for 152 separate wire tap warrants for various phones used by the defendants and others. Each warrant was good for three months.

The four men were arrested last month on charges that include conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to murder, maim or injure people on foreign soil, including U.S. citizens. They are accused of supporting and fundraising for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group responsible for more than 100 deaths. Four other men charged in the indictment remain free overseas.

"This isn't about social activism. This isn't about people's political beliefs. This isn't about whether someone supports George Bush or Humpty Dumpty or anyone else," Furr told the judge. "This is about running a gigantic terrorist organization that kills people."

Furr's depiction ran contrary to testimony on Tuesday from a handful of character witnesses who described Al-Arian as a scholar and civic leader who abhorred the killing of innocent people. The depiction was similar to the character witnesses who testified for all four men during the previous three days.

Several witnesses commented that the Al-Arian described by prosecutors was the polar opposite of the man they knew.

"It's definitely a different person (the prosecutors) are describing," Al-Arian's son, Abdullah Al-Arian, said outside the courthouse. "But I just don't think that person exists, unfortunately for them."

The stark contrast also prompted a comment from the judge.

"Frankly, I cannot recall in my almost eight years of being a magistrate judge of having four defendants with such distinguished civic track records," Pizzo told the lawyers. "But I almost feel like a character in Alice in Wonderland, and I've fallen down the hole, and I'm looking at a different" case when looking at the 121-page indictment.

"And, I have to tell you, the indictment is very persuasive," he added.

Matassini questioned the strength of the evidence, saying another defendant, Bashir Nafi, remains free in England, even after federal prosecutors charged him with being an integral part of such a nefarious terrorist organization. Nafi, a part-time lecturer in Islamic studies at Birkbeck College in London, is accused of being the British leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"It is hard to believe he would be sitting there ... if he was the terrorist they think he is," Matassini said.

Prosecutors did not comment on Matassini's assertions regarding Nafi.

Matassini also told Judge Pizzo that Al-Arian's family and friends were willing to put up about $3.2-million worth of collateral for his bail. Al-Arian has five U.S.-born children, no travel documents, no passport and no money overseas, Matassini said. He also has known about the investigation for many months and did not flee the country, Matassini said. Those factors, he argued, should be weighed in deciding whether to grant bail.

Furr, the prosecutor, described Al-Arian as "one of the big guys, one of the really big guys" in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian likely didn't know the extent of the government's surveillance until reading the indictment, Furr said.

Now that Al-Arian and the others know what they are facing, "the risk of flight is very real," Furr said.

"If they get out of here and run, we will not be able to get them back," Furr said.

-- Graham Brink can be reached at 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com .

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