Sami Al-Arian: Terrorist "Crime Boss"

World Net Daily: Prosecutors: Professor 'crime boss' for terrorists: Florida wraps up case against Al-Arian, teacher charged with facilitating attacks---

Florida prosecutors today wrapped up their case against Sami Al-Arian, saying the former professor and his accomplices were "crime bosses" for terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad and just as guilty as those who actually committed murderous attacks against innocent civilians.

"The men of the PIJ you got to know in this case, they didn't strap bombs to their body. They leave that to somebody else," stated prosecutor Cherie Krigsman, according to the AP.

Al-Arian and three others have been on trial for five months, facing a 51-count indictment charging they operated a criminal racketeering enterprise that provided funding and organization for a global terror ring responsible for the deaths of 100 people in and around Israel, including two Americans.

Prosecutors liken the men's activities to directing violence carried out by the Mafia, hence the label "crime bosses."

Krigsman says Al-Arian, a former computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida, was a key figure in PIJ, a State Department-designated terror group.

"No doubt about it, Sami Al-Arian was upper-level management," she said.