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Copyright 2003

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August 10, 2003

PALESTINIAN PROFESSOR HELD IN US PRISON REJECTS 'UNSUBSTANTIATED'
ACCUSATIONS

BYLINE: Interview with Dr. Sami al-Aryan, Professor of Computer
Science at the University of Southern Florida, through an
intermediary at Coleman Prison in Florida, where Dr. al-Aryan is
being held on charges of belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
organiza

BODY:

Dr. Sami al-Aryan, Professor of Computer Science at the University of
South Florida, who is being held in Coleman Prison in the United
States, considers that the accusations which he faces for belonging
to the Palestinian Islamic "Jihad" organization are vague and
unsubstantiated.

In answer to questions posed to him by al-Sharq al-Awsat from inside
the high-security prison through an intermediary, Dr. al-Aryan states
that there is no criminal evidence against him in the thousands of
hours of audiotapes recorded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He adds that although the administration of the US federal prison has
deprived him of pens, paper, and attendance of the Friday prayer
since his arrest last 20 February, books by Bin Taymiyah and others
are being smuggled to him inside his solitary confinement cell. He
explains that he spends most of his time in solitary confinement
preparing for the trial, which has been set to take place at the end
of 2005.

The Palestinian academic states that last June, the prison
administration forbade him to use the telephone for six months due to
the fact that his wife had put him in touch with his son, who is a
student in London.

Q: "Are you in solitary confinement? How many hours are you allowed
to come out of the cell? How many telephone calls are you allowed
every week? And how many visits do you receive every month according
to the rules of the US prison?"

A: "I praise God Almighty for everything, since whatever harm is
meant to befall me, will befall me, and whatever I am meant to be
spared, I will be spared. Unfortunately, I am suffering in a country
that boasts to the world that it defends human rights, whereas in
fact it persecutes the Muslim minorities within it.

"Despite my being falsely accused four months ago, the Constitution
and the law guarantee the accused the right to defend himself. They
also guarantee him the right to be considered innocent until proven
guilty. However, the treatment I have received since the first day of
my incarceration demonstrates that they deal with me as though I had
already been tried and convicted. The prison in which I am being held
is considered to be one of the toughest in the world. We remain in
solitary confinement for 23 to 24 hours a day, and because the prison
is more than 70 miles (that is, about 100 km) from the defense team,
it is very difficult to prepare a genuine defense, not to mention the
fact that the team of lawyers faces severe difficulty in seeing me,
meeting with me, or even exchanging papers or documents with me. I
also suffer some things that might be considered minor. For example,
it is extremely difficult to obtain ink pens, whether fountain or
ball point. As for pencils, we are given only two at a time, not to
mention the scarcity of paper, which puts me at odds constantly with
the prison administration due to my requests that they bring me a pen
and some paper. When I leave my cell to meet the defense team, my
hands are handcuffed behind my back, which makes it difficult to
carry the papers or files relating to the case; the prison officials
refuse to carry them, so I am obliged to carry them on my back by
walking hunched over for about 200 meters. This is in addition to the
rough, humiliating treatment, such as having to get completely
undressed whenever I come out of the cell, and the tight restrictions
on the use of the telephone to check up on my family and children. In
the middle of last June, the federal prison administration decided to
prevent me from using the telephone for six months, because my wife
put me on the line with my son who is a student in London, their
argument being that my son's number wasn't on the list.

"Since last February 20, I have not been allowed to kiss or hug my
children on any visit, since the visits are limited and take place
from behind glass barriers. We are also subjected daily to severe
psychological pressures. There is noise and disturbance night and
day, since they have me in a place where there are prisoners
suffering from severe psychological exhaustion, which causes them to
beat on the cell doors and scream nonstop. The prison administration
responds by turning on the warning sirens, which are deafeningly
loud, for a long time every day. They may turn them on between 5 to
10 times a day. As for leaving the cell, the prison administration is
under obligation to bring prisoners out into the prison courtyard one
hour a day. However, this does not happen regularly, since the
administration has instructed prison guards to let everyone else out
before my turn comes up, and there are many times when I never get a
turn to come out."

Q: "What are the reasons for your hunger strike?"

A: "My open hunger strike came about in protest against the injustice
that I am suffering. The case is a purely political one, and it is an
attempt to silence me and to support the university in its unjust
decision to require me to resign from my post. It is also an attempt
to silence the Arab and Islamic voice against this Administration's
violations through arbitrary laws against civil and constitutional
rights, human rights, and political freedoms. However, I do take
liquids, and I have managed to fast for God's sake on most days."

Q: "Are you allowed to attend the Friday (congregational) prayer? And
what do you read in the US prison?"

A: "I am not allowed to take part in the Friday prayer with the other
Muslim prisoners despite my persistent requests to do so. As for
books, they are not allowed unless they are sent directly to me, and
they have to be paperback. However, thanks be to God, I have been
able to obtain numerous books from Muslim prisoners who have smuggled
them to me through the food slot in my cell door. I've read numerous
books by the Shaykh of Islam, Bin-Taymiyah, Bin-Hanbal, and others by
Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, especially his book entitled,"Patient
Endurance in the Holy Koran." I am presently reading the
book "Greater Israel and the Palestinians" by Nur-al-Din Musalahah."

Q: "How do you spend your long periods of free time?"

A: "Of course, I spend a lot of time preparing for the trial that has
been set -- unjustly -- for the end of 2005, even though I am
prepared for it now, since the accusations are false, bogus, and
without evidence to support them. However, the government has
announced that it isn't ready. I also spend a lot of time memorizing
the Holy Koran, repeating phrases of divine remembrance, praying, and
writing letters."

Q: "There are reports that there are thousands of hours of recorded
telephone conversations. How did they obtain these?"

A: "The US prosecution claims that it obtained a court order to
record the telephone conversations beginning in 1994. This issue, of
course, will be disputed with respect to its legality. However, I
affirm to all that I do not believe that there is any evidence
against me in these conversations, the recording of which many
believe to be unconstitutional." Q: "What is the truth of the reports
that you are seeking to hasten the trial, which has been scheduled
for January, 2005, whereas others want to postpone it until later, as
if the postponement is in their favor? Where is the truth?" A: "The
Constitution and the law give me the right to demand a prompt trial
since, as I have mentioned, there is no serious evidence in support
of these accusations. Most of these conversations have been
deliberately mistranslated or interpreted for political reasons.
Consequently, the prosecution's interest lies in postponing the
trial, since it is not ready for it. The prosecution makes the excuse
that the issue is "complex," and that there is secret evidence and
evidence from a foreign state, that is, Israel. At the same time,
they demand that I be imprisoned for the duration of the time when
they are preparing for the trial. I believe this to be unfair and
unacceptable. If they are not prepared after investigations that have
gone on for more than nine years, as they claim they have, I am
prepared to give them nine more years to prepare themselves. However,
I cannot be imprisoned for this entire time. This is, quite simply, a
violation of the most basic recognized principles and limits of
justice."

Q: "Could you say something about the accusations directed against
you?"

A: "The accusations directed against me are insubstantial and
unspecified. The prosecution acknowledged during the initial sessions
that they had no evidence of intent to commit acts of violence or
terrorism. However, US law allows them to accuse someone of
conspiracy without specifying a given crime. In this case, they claim
that I am conspiring against Israel to kill its citizens. They then
bring forth a list of all the operations that have been carried out
by the Palestinian Jihad movement and say that I am responsible for
them. Of course, this claim is devoid of even the slightest injustice
or objectivity. As for most of the accusations, they can be summed up
in the use of the telephone for quite ordinary purposes, such as
defending my brother-in-law, Dr. Mazin al-Najjar, who was tried and
imprisoned in the United States based on secret evidence, or
collecting contributions for the local Islamic school. The purpose is
to deceive others and to delude them into thinking that there are
numerous, serious accusations whereas they are, in fact, spurious and
trivial. If I am provided with the defense team that I want, we will
be able, with God's help, to reveal the truth and defeat falsehood."

Q: "How many Muslims are there, approximately, in Florida's Coleman
Prison? Do you meet with any of them? Is this the same prison in
which Dr. Mazin al-Najjar was held?"

A: "I don't know exactly how many Muslims there are in Coleman Prison
since, as I mentioned earlier, I am isolated from them and am not
allowed to visit them or speak with them. However, they write to me
constantly, send me books, and ask me for Islamic legal rulings. This
is the same prison in which Dr. Mazin al-Najjar was held for nine
months before he was transferred last August."

Q: "Do you feel sorry now for having entered work as a human rights
volunteer in the United States?"

A: "I don't feel sorry at all for anything I have done in the belief
that it was a religious or humanitarian duty, which I had no choice
but to perform. I came to this country when I was 17 years old, and I
have been here more than 28 years. This country has claimed that it
is democratic and that it defends human rights and the Constitution.
However, it is impossible to determine whether such claims are true
or false without putting them to the test. Moreover, Muslims in the
United States now number more than 8 million, and it will not be
possible for this community to preserve its rights, its gains ,and
the future of its children without entering the battlefield of public
action, especially the defense of its civil and constitutional
rights. The history of minorities in the United States is replete
with examples that show us that minorities' rights are not respected
or gained without sacrifices, insistence, and the determination to
obtain them; they are not simply given away or won through begging
and pleading. And I am very pleased by the great support that I
receive from hundreds of Islamic associations."

Q: "You have lived in the United States for about 28 years, that is,
more than a quarter of a century, and now you have ended up in a US
prison 'by virtue of injustice and slander,' as your supporters say.
What is your impression of the US system and the American people,
especially since the painful events of 11 September? And do you
believe that you will win the case in this atmosphere, which is so
charged against you?"

A: "This is an important question, which is not easy to answer
quickly. American society is a pluralistic, varied society, which has
many good qualities as well as many bad ones, in addition to
contradictions that live side by side. Perhaps the most important
thing that distinguishes the United States is that it is a state made
up of institutions that have a constitution that preserves the
country's unity. By means of the Constitution, many positive forces
are able to challenge injustice, arbitrariness, and racism in order
to win, first, the battle for public opinion before it turns into a
political or judicial victory. The injustice that has befallen me
does not justify anything; however, I believe fully that the powers
of good and justice will stand by our side and will be able, by God's
help, to expose the spurious nature of these groundless accusations.
All of my work through institutions was an attempt to reinforce the
existence of the Arab and Islamic community, to preserve its rights
and to support the Palestinian cause whose identity and justness some
seek to obliterate in the darkness. I believe that if my trial is
destined to take place, it will parallel the trial of Alfred Dreyfus,
the Jewish officer in France in the 1890s. That trial was a mark of
disgrace on France's forehead, since it demonstrated the racism and
discrimination against the Jews in France, which motivated Hertzel at
that time to launch the Zionist movement. In addition, my trial may
be not so much my own trial as a test of the fairness of the US
judicial system. Even if US public opinion has been marshaled against
Islam and Muslims as it had been marshaled against the Jews in
France, I still believe that I will be victorious in the end, that
injustice will not endure in the face of the truth, and that the
forces of good in this country and in the Arab and Islamic world will
refuse to remain silent. Rather, they will always move, and when they
do, the Koranic phrase, "the truth has now come to light, and
falsehood has withered away: for, behold, all falsehood is bound to
wither away!" (17: 81) will be brought to pass. The movement of
history has always been on the side of freedom and against the forces
of wrong, injustice and oppression, whether these forces have been in
the East or in the West. As for the matter of winning the case, I
have absolute confidence that God almighty, who vindicated our master
Joseph, may peace be upon him, after he had been imprisoned based on
injustice and slander when he was in the house of the ruler of Egypt,
will vindicate me as well. I view my case as a chapter in Arab and
Islamic history on American soil, and in the realm of the struggle
for civil rights."

Q: "How will you be able to cover the expenses of the defense team?"

A: "Whoever knows the United States knows that there are two systems
of justice. One of these systems applies to those who have a first-
rate team of lawyers and who, as a consequence, can defy the state's
unlimited resources and defeat its arrogance and pride. However, this
class of lawyers costs a great deal. The costs of my defense alone
have been estimated at approximately $ 1.5 million, only one-third of
which has been covered. Consequently, I call upon able Arabs and
Muslims to lend us a hand in order for us to bring the truth to
light." A brief biological sketch of Sami al-Aryan Sami al-Aryan, who
bears Palestinian nationality, was born in Kuwait in 1958. He
emigrated with his family to Egypt in 1966, then traveled to the
United States in 1975 at the age of 17 to complete his university
studies. He obtained his Bachelor's Degree, graduating with honors in
1978 with a major in Electrical Engineering, and completed his
Master's Degree and Ph.D. in the years 1980 and 1985 respectively.
Dr. al-Aryan was employed in 1986 as a professor in the Computer
Sciences Department at the University of South Florida in the city of
Tampa. He was chosen in 1993 as the best professor in the Faculty of
Engineering, and as the best professor on the level of the entire
university in 1994. Last February, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation accused al-Aryan and seven others of being involved
since 1984 in a criminal organization that assists the Palestinian
Jihad movement. The authorities added that this organization had been
responsible for 100 murder operations in Israel, and that al-Aryan
was the Jihad movement's chief of operations in the United States.

Al-Aryan was arrested for his relationship with Ramadan Abdallah
Shalah, the leader of the Palestinian Jihad Community and Abd-al-Aziz
al-Awdah, "the spiritual head of the fundamentalist community."
Shalah lives in Syria and al-Awdah lives in the Palestinian
territories, and it is not yet clear whether the US authorities will
ask for them to be extradited to the United States.

The University of South Florida terminated the Palestinian professor
based on claims that he had supported the activities of "terrorist
communities" after the events of 9 September 2001, but al-Aryan
denied any connection with terrorist activities. It bears noting that
al-Aryan has been under investigation by US authorities since the
1990s, but no charges have been brought against him.

Dr. al-Aryan has played a prominent role in establishing a number of
Arab and Islamic institutions over the past quarter of a century.
These include The Arab Muslim Youth League in 1977, the Islamic
Community Center in Tampa City, and the Florida Islamic Academy,
which is an Islamic school for students in Tampa and its suburbs. Al-
Aryan is considered to have been among the most active lecturers in
North America in the 1980s and 1990's on the subjects of the
Palestinian cause, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the relationship
between Islam and the West. He helped to found the Center for Studies
of Islam and the World in 1990, which sought to set up a serious
dialogue between scholars and men involved in the Islamic movement
and Western Orientalists. Over a period of five years, the Center
issued 20 volumes and several books.

The FBI has directed 50 counts of conspiracy and terrorism against al-
Aryan; the accusations focus on telephone conversations and faxes
between him and certain figures who are accused by the US authorities
of being affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement. Al-Aryan's wife,
Mrs. Nahlah al-Najjar, states that since her husband's arrest last 20
February, she has undergone a near-daily ordeal when she goes to
visit him, where he is presently held at Tampa's high-security prison
located 100 miles from her home. His wife points out that since the
day he was arrested, al-Aryan has lost about 20 kilograms due to his
open hunger strike based on which he only takes liquids, and that he
is subjected to harsh treatment by the prison administration and its
guards.

Al-Aryan's wife adds: "It is an irony of fate that 1500 on 11
September 2001 was the time at which President Bush was scheduled to
meet with the leaders of Arab and Islamic communities in the United
States in order to announce his Administration's determination to
cease applying provisions relating to 'secret evidence' in the
corridors of the US judiciary. That day was to crown four years of
untiring labor on Dr.

al-Aryan's part in the area of civil and constitutional rights.
However, the international terrorist attacks that took place on that
day in New York and Washington revived Zionist circles' byword of
attacking Arab and Islamic figures and institutions. The campaign
against Dr.

al-Aryan began anew, and was crowned by the decision of the
University of South Florida to terminate him again. Three months
later, in December, 2001, the University Council made its decision to
dismiss al-Aryan." Al-Aryan's wife adds: "Despite the decision of the
US Council of University Professors, an institution that monitors
universities' commitment to the laws and conventions of academic
freedom, to appoint an investigative commission to look into the
decision to dismiss al-Aryan, there was powerful pressure on the
university from the Zionist lobby. As a result, the president of the
university, who is known for her Zionist leanings, issued a decision
calling for al-Aryan's dismissal to remain in effect until the
investigations of him had been completed. The US Council of
University Professors then announced that the decision to dismiss al-
Aryan had nothing to justify it and that if the university carried
out this decision, the Council would declare the University of South
Florida to be an institution that does not respect the laws of
academic freedom and that it would place it on the penalties list,
which would have a negative impact on the university's academic
reputation."

(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-
WWW) in Arabic -- Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing
independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials
reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy)