TAMPA - Three other men on trial with Sami Al-Arian are also charged with conspiring to raise money to further violent acts of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for hundreds of deaths in Israel in the past decade.
Here is a summary of what federal prosecutors say is major evidence against the three men, as it relates to the main charges:
SAMEEH HAMMOUDEH, 45, of Tampa: He worked for World and Islam Studies Enterprise, Al-Arian's Tampa think tank, which was associated with the University of South Florida. Prosecutors say FBI recordings of phone conversations show he received a $1,000 a month salary from the PIJ. They also say he received a lump sum of about $20,000 from the PIJ.
And, prosecutors say he raised money for PIJ-related charities between 1995 and 2000, which he transferred to members of his family and others in the occupied territories to distribute to PIJ associates, then covered up the activity with phony charitable receipts.
To back up the PIJ salary allegation, an FBI agent emphasized a Jan. 22, 1994, phone conversation Al-Arian had with PIJ spiritual leader Abd Al Aziz Awda. In the conversation, Awda spoke of salaries for WISE employees: "$1,000 for Sameeh."
But another FBI agent agreed with Hammoudeh's attorney that PIJ money, which went to pay WISE salaries, went to three other employees, not Hammoudeh.
Prosecutors also showed April 1994 transfer records of $20,000 going into Hammoudeh's account from the PIJ, which they say was back pay. But Hammoudeh's attorney showed that his client transferred $16,000 of the money to the WISE account and $4,000 to the account of WISE employee Ramadan Shallah, who worked at WISE until June 1995.
An FBI forensic accountant said only a small percentage of money that Hammoudeh sent to the occupied territories matched up with charitable receipts. Defense attorneys say the money went for charitable causes and there is no evidence to the contrary.
[CW editor's note-the article also discusses Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Balut. Only Hammoudeh and al-Arian are involved with academic Middle East Studies.]