The authorities in the United States have indicted a Palestinian university professor with financing and supporting Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. Sami al-Arian - who taught at a Florida university - is one of eight people charged in the 50-count indictment that also lists the names of top Islamic Jihad leaders. Mr al-Arian - described by the indictment as the US leader of the group - was arrested early on Thursday alongside three other US residents. The others live abroad. Attorney General John Ashcroft told a news conference the arrests were part of the US war on terror, including efforts to stamp out terrorist finances. Al-Arian, 45, has been under investigation since the early 1990s when he co-founded a now defunct Islamic studies think-tank, which the US Government considered a frontline organisation that raised funds for Islamic Jihad.

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