Former professor charged with contempt

ARLINGTON, Va., June 27 (UPI) -- An ex-professor who ran an Islamic organization at a Florida college was charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury.

Sami al-Arian, a former professor of computer science at the University of South Florida, has been in custody for five years, the New York Sun reported. In 2005, in a major embarrassment to the Justice Department, a jury failed to convict him after a six-month terrorism trial, acquitting him of some charges and reaching no verdict on others.

Al-Arian, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian, argues that he has no obligation to testify before the grand jury because of his guilty plea in 2006 to assisting a terrorist organization. He was scheduled to be released and deported last year but a judge ordered him held in civil contempt.

Al-Arian founded the World and Islamic Studies Enterprise in Tampa. His group received at least $50,000 from the group now under investigation, the International Institute for Islamic Thought in Herndon, Va.

Al-Arian's daughter accused prosecutors of abusing the process.

"Their loss in his trial was such a high-profile blow to them. It seems like sour grapes," Laila Al-Arian said. "They're just trying to abuse the law."