Family reunites with stateless Palestinian

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Stateless Palestinian Mazen Al-Najjar, a former instructor at the University of South Florida, has reunited with his family in an undisclosed Arab country.

His brother-in-law, Sami al-Arian, said the family is reluctant to name the country for fear it could hurt chances for a permanent visa.

Al-Najjar came to the United States in 1981, and was jailed 16 years later on charges -- based on classified evidence -- that he had links to the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad.

He was never formally charged and a federal judge ordered his release in December 2000 on grounds his rights were violated. In November 2001 an appeals court upheld a deportation order for overstaying his visa.

He was released from Sumter County Jail in August and flown to Europe. He had intended to go to Bahrain, but that country refused to accept him at the last minute, Al-Arian said.

He flew to Italy and then on to Lebanon, but officials there objected, accusing the United States of "illegally dumping" him there.

He was moved to another undisclosed country in September, and to his current location in January. Al-Arian said they are hopeful he will be able to remain there. His wife and three daughters arrived there Wednesday.

"We are 95 percent sure that this will be the last stop for this family. You never know, but we are confident," Al-Arian told the Tampa Tribune.

He said chances for finding a job were good, although Al-Najjar is currently unemployed. He also began taking insulin for diabetes recently.

"We hope now that they are getting settled that his health will improve," Al-Arian said.

Al-Arian himself is under fire because of allegations of ties to terrorists. The University of South Florida is expected to fire him.

After a judge declined to set guidelines for the constitutionality of the dismissal, university officials said they would proceed with a series of reviews generated by a charge of discrimination for his religion and national origin.