From The Beginning: A Timeline Of The Sami Al-Arian Trial

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Published: Dec 7, 2005

FROM THE BEGINNING

1986

Jan. 27: The University of South Florida College of Engineering hires Sami Al-Arian, a Kuwait-born Palestinian who studied at Southern Illinois University and North Carolina State University, to teach computer science.

1988

Oct. 20: Al-Arian incorporates the Islamic Concern Project, an organization that includes the Islamic Committee for Palestine, devoted to Palestinian causes and telling Americans about the intifada, the insurrection of Palestinians against Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

1991

Feb. 21: Al-Arian incorporates the World and Islam Studies Enterprise, a think tank devoted to Islamic thought and political theory.

April 7: A speaker introducing Al-Arian in Cleveland calls the Islamic Committee for Palestine "the active arm of the Jihad movement in Palestine."

1995

Jan. 22: Two suicide bombers kill 19 people at an Israeli bus stop. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

May 28-29: The Tampa Tribune publishes "Ties to Terrorists," which details links between the Islamic Committee for Palestine, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise and militant organizations.

Oct. 31: Days after the assassination in Malta of Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki, former World and Islam Studies Enterprise Director Ramadan Abdullah Shallah emerges as the Islamic Jihad's new leader.

Nov. 20: Federal agents search World and Islam Studies Enterprise's office and Al-Arian's home and office at USF. An affidavit describes the World and Islam Studies Enterprise and the Islamic Committee for Palestine as fronts for the Islamic Jihad.

1996

May 2: USF places Al-Arian on paid leave pending a federal investigation into whether he was running terrorist front organizations. He returns two years later after no law enforcement action.

2001

Sept. 26: Al-Arian is questioned on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" about his relationship with Islamic Jihad leaders and past statements such as "death to Israel."

Sept. 28: USF trustees, responding to an avalanche of complaints, endorse President Judy Genshaft's decision to suspend Al-Arian with pay on grounds of campus safety.

2003

Feb. 20: A federal indictment accuses Al-Arian of being a leader of the Islamic Jihad. He and seven others are charged with, among other things, running a criminal enterprise and conspiring in the United States to kill and maim others abroad.

Feb. 26: USF fires Al-Arian.

April 10: U.S. Magistrate Mark Pizzo denies bail to Al-Arian and co-defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh. Defendants Ghassan Zayed Ballut and Hatim Naji Fariz are freed on bail.

July 31: The Tribune and The New York Times secure the release of an affidavit by a federal investigator that says, among other allegations, that Al-Arian organized the Palestinian Islamic Jihad from his Tampa home and helped raise money.

Oct. 28: Lawyers William Moffitt and Linda Moreno file court papers to join Al-Arian's legal defense.

2004

March 12: Moody rejects defense claims that the government is trying to criminalize Al-Arian's exercise of free speech.

Oct. 18: The Al-Arian question dominates the debate between U.S. Senate candidates Mel Martinez and former USF President Betty Castor, over Castor's actions while Al-Arian was a professor.

2005

April 8: Moody refuses to prevent prosecutors from using evidence seized during searches of the homes and offices of Al-Arian and his co-defendants.

April 19: Moody rules almost all the evidence gathered through wiretaps under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is admissible.

May 16: Three days of jury selection for the trial begins.

June 6: The trial for Al-Arian and three co-defendants opens.

Dec. 6: After five months of testimony and 13 days of deliberations, jurors acquit Al-Arian of eight of the 17 charges against him and deadlock on the others. Co-defendants Hammoudeh and Ballut are acquitted of all charges; Fariz is found not guilty on 24 counts, and jurors deadlock on eight others.

Research by MICHAEL FECHTER, BUDDY JAUDON