Terror trial begins in Florida

NEW YORK - The trial of a former Florida professor suspected of aiding the Islamic Jihad terrorist group to plan deadly anti-Israeli attacks began on Monday, as Israeli officials and terror victims prepare to take the witness stand with testimonies of Palestinian suicide bombings. Sami al-Arian, 47, was arrested along with three colleagues in February 2003 and is being tried in a court in Tampa, Florida despite objections by his lawyers, who asked proceedings be held elsewhere after claiming press coverage of the trial by area reporters would be biased and affect the jury. The former computer science lecturer at the University of South Florida and Hatem Naji Fariz, 32, Sameeh Hammoudeh, 44, and Ghasan Zayed Ballut, 43, are suspected of being senior leaders of Islamic Jihad, which has planned and carried out attacks that have killed over 100 Israelis, as well as two Americans, over more than 15 years. A 53-count indictment accuses them of being accomplices to murder, funding terror attacks, forging documents and raising money and providing support for the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which the United States lists as a terrorist organization. If convicted, the four could face life in prison Terrorist group killed over 100 Israelis The indictment mentions several of the group's deadliest attacks, including a car bombing in the town of Afula that killed seven people in 1994, a double bombing at a junction north of Tel Aviv that killed 22 people in 1995, a bus hijaking that killed 15 people in 1989, and an attack at a Tel Aviv mall in 1996 that killed 13 people. Arian's lawyer, William Moffitt, said his client was involved in "routine political activity" and said he was once invited to the White House, where he met U.S. leaders. Israeli witnesses expected to testify during the trial include police investigators and officers who collected testimonies at the scenes of terror attacks, as well as rescue workers from the ZAKA emergency services organization tasked with picking up body parts at bombing scenes More recently, an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber killed five Israelis in February at a Tel Aviv nightclub, rocking a shaky cease-fire declared by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas aimed at stopping more than four years of bloodshed.

Terror trial begins in Florida

U.S. professor suspected of being a senior leader of Islamic Jihad terrorist group tried in Tampa court; if convicted, he could face life in prison