University professor accused of being terror boss

A Florida university professor was today accused of being a leader of a Palestinian terror group blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people in and around Israel.

Eight people, including four US residents, were charged in a 50 count indictment with supporting, financing and relaying messages for Islamic Jihad.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, was unsealed today.

It charges that the men are members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, designated by the United States as a terrorist organisation.

Among them are a Palestinian professor at the University of South Florida, 45-year-old Sami Amin Al-Arian, who is described as the group’s US leader and secretary of its worldwide council.

In Florida, Al-Arian was seen being led in handcuffs to FBI headquarters in Tampa after the arrest.

“It’s all about politics,” Al-Arian told reporters as agents led him inside.