WAR ON TERROR Judge delays trial of former professor accused of supporting terrorists

A Republican Senate candidate used the case against his rival.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A federal judge has agreed to delay the trial of a former professor suspected of terrorist ties, in part because of publicity about the case during the state's U.S. Senate race and the amount of evidence that attorneys must study.
U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. rescheduled the trial of former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and his co-defendants from January to April 4.
Al-Arian and co-defendants Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatim Naji Fariz and Ghassan Zayed Ballut are accused of using a think tank Al-Arian started at the school and a Palestinian charity he funded as covers for supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
All four have denied the charges; Al-Arian contends he is being prosecuted because of his politically unpopular views.
Political issue
Al-Arian became a central issue in this year's Senate race because Democratic nominee Betty Castor was the school president in the 1990s when the FBI started investigating the professor. Her campaign rival, Republican Mel Martinez, said her failure to fire Al-Arian indicated she was soft on terrorism.
Martinez won a narrow victory over Castor earlier this month.
Castor maintained she did all she could by placing Al-Arian on paid leave after the allegations against him emerged. He was never charged with a crime during her tenure, and her successor did not fire him until he was indicted in 2003.
In his request for a trial delay, attorney William Moffitt suggested the jury pool had been tainted by campaign publicity. He said one Martinez flier included photos of hooded terrorists brandishing guns, with the words "Evil was in her midst."
Attorneys also need to wade through thousands of hours of wiretapped conversations and scores of classified documents to prepare their cases.
U.S. attorney Paul Perez did not object to the delay.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.