Jihad Journalist Scooped (By Himself)

He's back. Yes, The Tampa Tribune's Muslim-basher, Michael Fechter, is trying to restart his out-of-gas crusade. Fechter was detected last week, trying to prove that a man who lived in Tampa from 1989 to '92 was an associate of Osama bin Laden, and that, therefore, other Tampa Muslims were also guilty of … well, of something … because they had associated with someone who had associated with ….

You get the idea.

Fechter, as is the style of his mentor, discredited journalist Steven Emerson, sent a list of "when did you stop beating your spouse" questions to University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and a former Tampa resident, Tariq Hamdi. The questions assert criminal wrongdoing and associations — even though a federal immigration judge has ruled there has never been any proof of the allegations.

Hamdi and Al-Arian turned over the questions to me and the St. Petersburg Times. The Times rained on the Tribune's parade in a story last Sunday.

Hamdi, a freelance journalist and editor of a scholarly publication in Washington, D.C., has contacts throughout the Arab world. As a consultant to ABC News, he helped arrange, through intermediaries, an interview with bin Laden. During this work he delivered a satellite phone battery to one of the intermediaries.

Of course, one might wonder just how a Tampa reporter picked up on this information from about 5,300 pages into the transcript of the New York trial of four bin Laden associates that concluded with convictions last week.

That aside, Fechter declares Hamdi and Al-Arian guilty ("You worked with people close to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad" and Hamdi "turned up … involved with groups that the U.S. government describes as terrorist organizations") and then starts asking for facts to shore up his already announced conclusions.

Fechter, according to Hamdi, became quite agitated when told the Arab scholar had been vetted and approved by the U.S. government. "He wanted to know who in the government had given me clearance," Hamdi said. "I said, "You're the reporter. You find out.'"

Hamdi had been hired as a consultant by one of the defense lawyers in the recent New York trials. According to Hamdi, that job required access to secret material and, thus, a government clearance was required. "I told the FBI everything from the day I was born," Hamdi said. He ultimately received the clearance. Herb Haddad, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, wouldn't discuss any specifics about Hamdi, but he confirmed clearances were required for people who worked on the case.

Fechter, in his letters, managed to get many facts wrong — such as claiming Hamdi was a member of a USF-affiliated research group called WISE. Other statements by Fechter, such as asserting men were leaders of terrorist groups, have basis only in Fechter's own interpretation of extremely unreliable Middle East publications, or in material that clearly serves Israeli propaganda purposes.

The Trib reporter also insinuated that the activities of WISE were tainted. However, as the reporter knows, a federal immigration judge last year ruled: "Although there were allegations that (WISE and a related group, the Islamic Committee for Palestine) were "fronts' for Palestinian political causes, there is no evidence before the Court that demonstrates that either organization was a front for the (Islamic Jihad). To the contrary, there is evidence in the record to support the conclusion that WISE was a reputable and scholarly research center and the ICP was highly regarded."

After a 1995 Trib series prompted by Emerson launched a federal investigation of WISE, the newspaper's allegations have been largely dismissed by its brethren — notably The Miami Herald, the St. Petersburg Times and the Associated Press, not to mention the Weekly Planet.

Unanswered and unacknowledged by the Tribune in all of this was the role of Emerson, who according to his own statements has been banned as a source from reputable news organizations such as the Washington Post and Associated Press. Yet, the Tribune has never disclosed the controversy that surrounds Emerson — including allegations that he is a shill for Israeli intelligence operations.

The only known acts of Middle East-related terrorism in Florida — a bomb threat at USF and an actual bomb placement in Jacksonville — were both committed by supporters of Israel, and were never given much attention by the Tribune. And the true crime committed in Tampa began with the Tribune's 1995 series that resulted in the jailing of Mazen Al-Najjar for 43 months when no evidence existed that proved any sort of wrongdoing.

Editor John F. Sugg, considered by many to be an intellectual terrorist, can be reached at 813-248-8888, ext. 109, or at johnsugg@weeklyplanet.com. Disclaimer: Steven Emerson has sued Sugg, the Weekly Planet and former AP reporter Richard Cole for defamation. Emerson lost his case in Washington, D.C., but refiled it in Tampa, where it is pending. Sugg contends that Emerson's real purpose is an attempt to chill the Planet's First Amendment rights.

This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2001.