Defendant in Florida Jihad case seeks wiretap info

Hatem Fariz, who stood trial along with Sami al-Arian and two other men, filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Tampa on Tuesday asking U.S. District Judge James Moody to compel the government to disclose if it intercepted communications between him and others without a court order, the clerk said.

U.S. President George W. Bush recently confirmed the National Security Agency was intercepting telephone calls and other communications between people in the United States and foreign countries without judicial oversight.

Bush said he had the authority to order the intercepts without prior court approval because of terrorism concerns. Many members of Congress disagree and want an investigation.

Fariz, al-Arian, Ghassan Ballut and Sameeh Hammoudeh were arrested in 2003 on charges they aided the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.

The evidence in the case was based largely on thousands of hours of wiretapped telephone calls and intercepted e-mails gathered over a decade.

After a six-month trial, which ended on December 6, Fariz was found not guilty on 25 of the 33 counts against him. The jury could not reach a verdict on the other eight charges.

The jury also found al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor, not guilty on eight of the 17 charges against him and deadlocked on the others.

Ballut and Hammoudeh were acquitted on all the charges against them. Hammoudeh is facing deportation on other charges.

Federal prosecutors have not decided if they will retry al-Arian and Fariz on the remaining charges. Al-Arian remains in jail while Fariz is free on bail.

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