April 13, 2007

A supporter or a scapegoat? Detroiter faces terrorism trial

Kifah Jayyousi, identified as a graduate and former teacher at Wayne State University, and a former Detroit schools administrator, is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Miami on terrorism charges. He allegedly helped create a North American network that recruited, bankrolled and equipped Islamic extremists to fight overseas. Jayyousi\'s court-appointed lawyer says his client is a law-abiding American who is guilty of nothing more than expressing controversial -- but constitutionally protected -- views. Mumtaz Usmen, chairman of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at WSU, where Jayyousi obtained a master\'s degree and doctorate in civil engineering and taught in 2000-01, said he also was mystified. \"He never ... showed anything to us that we considered questionable or improper,\" said Usmen, who described Jayyousi as popular with students.

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