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The week in review

Israeli witnesses will testify in the Sami Al-Arian trial.

By MEG LAUGHLIN
Published August 15, 2005

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants are on trial in federal court, accused of using Islamic charities as fronts in a conspiracy to finance terrorist attacks by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. With the trial expected to last six months, the St. Petersburg Times is providing a weekly summary highlighting last week's important developments.

THE LATEST: Last week, prosecutors read transcripts of FBI wiretaps of phone conversations between Al-Arian, Bashir Nafi, Ramadan Shallah and Faithi Shikaki - all identified as part of the governing board of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in 1994 and early 1995.

The wiretaps afforded those in the courtroom with a behind-the-scenes look at some of the inner workings of the PIJ leadership.

THEY DIVULGED: An ongoing struggle to wrestle $350,000 away from Al-Arian's brother-in-law, the PIJ treasurer. Al-Arian said the treasurer was holding onto the money, in violation of the rules, and expressed frustration about keeping his Tampa think tank going without access to these PIJ funds.

Another ongoing effort was Al-Arian's attempt to promote an "educational and political" wing of the PIJ.

But by spring 1995, Al-Arian's greatest struggle was to counteract accusations in the Tampa Tribune that his Tampa think tank, World and Islam Studies Enterprise, was linked to the PIJ.

In October 1995, Ramadan Shallah, who just four months before had been director of WISE, became head of the PIJ in Damascus, Syria, turning up the heat on Al-Arian.

Earlier in the week, prosecutors read a letter Al-Arian wrote concerning a PIJ suicide bombing on Jan. 22, 1995, that killed 22 Israeli soldiers. In the letter, Al-Arian asked for financial help for the dead bomber's family, "so operations such as these can continue." But a three-month-old FBI report indicated the person Al-Arian was writing to denied ever receiving the letter, raising questions about whether it was ever sent.

WHAT'S NEXT: Today, Israeli witnesses to PIJ terrorist attacks will testify about what they saw. Defense attorneys have raised concerns about how these attacks relate directly to the defendants' actions, and have argued that prosecutors should show this connection before showing the attacks.

But U.S. District Judge James S. Moody told defense attorneys that the Israeli witnesses could give testimony.

[Last modified August 15, 2005, 05:04:07]