Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative Sami Al-Arian ended his hunger strike, which he began, allegedly, in protest of the Eastern District of Virginia's insistence that he testify before a grand jury investigating the terrorist connections of a Northern Virginia think tank, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).Al-Arian is currently in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, awaiting deportation to an as of yet undetermined country. His lawyer, however, expects that Al-Arian may still be indicted for criminal contempt for his refusal to testify before the grand jury despite a grant of immunity.
Before Al-Arian was arrested, he was a computer science professor at the University of South Florida (USF). The current Secretary General of the PIJ, Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, was a lecturer at the same university, brought there by Al-Arian to work for Al-Arian's think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE). Shallah taught Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at USF, through a cooperative agreement between USF and WISE. Read more ...
Source: IPT News
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