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The week in review

By Times Staff
Published September 12, 2005

THE LATEST: Last week, the federal trial of Sami Al-Arian was dominated by two topics: The movement of money by defendants - out of the bank account of one Tampa organization, with which they were associated, and into another, also under their control. Often, the money - hundreds of thousands of dollars - originated in the Middle East before making the rounds through the Tampa accounts. Occasionally, the money originated in Tampa and made its way to the Middle East - to the occupied territories or Egypt. When this happened, notes on money transfers or checks sometimes said it was for "orphans" or "the needy." But where all of it went was unclear.

The second topic that dominated the Al-Arian trial last week was the issue of possible juror misconduct based on alleged prejudicial comments by a single juror. At the end of the week, U.S. District Judge James S. Moody said he would not yet rule on whether that juror should be dismissed. But he did rule that two other jurors, who had been under scrutiny, would not be dismissed. The juror still in question is alleged to have said that Tampa Islamic organizations, run by defendants, were "fronts" for the terrorist activity of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Al-Arian and co-defendants Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut are accused of using these Tampa Islamic organizations as fronts to finance terrorist attacks by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for killing more than 100 people in Israel and the occupied territories.

WHAT'S NEXT: When the trial resumes today, defense attorneys will cross-examine an FBI agent about the movement of money in and out of defendants' accounts. Stephen Bernstein, attorney for Sameeh Hammoudeh, will begin the questioning.

[Last modified September 12, 2005, 07:36:28]