Arab Student Held, Accused of Ties to PLO

A 24-year-old Jordanian student allegedly linked to a Marxist offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization was arrested Thursday at Chaffey Community College by federal agents on charges of violating U.S. immigration laws.

Authorities said Bashar Husam Amer, 24, a resident of Alta Loma in San Bernardino County, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents on the Rancho Cucamonga campus while on his way to a morning class.

An INS spokesman said Amer is believed to have been part of a group of Jordanian citizens living in the Los Angeles area affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist group that has claimed credit for terrorist attacks around the world, mainly in the 1970s.

Six Jordanians and the Kenyan wife of one were arrested Jan. 26 as alleged members of the group and are facing deportation hearings tentatively set for Tuesday in Los Angeles. They have been held without bond on charges of violating immigration laws by circulating material advocating world communism.

On a Student Visa

INS spokesman Joe Flanders said late Thursday that he had few details about Amer but said he was living in the United States on a student visa. Flanders said Amer was apparently part of the original group under investigation, but he could not be located at the time of the other arrests.

Dan Stormer, the lead attorney representing the Arab defendants in the case, said he will consult with Amer today before a bond hearing by an immigration judge in Los Angeles to determine if he wishes to be represented with the others facing deportation charges.

The arrests of the alleged members of the Palestinian group, who have denied any connection with the Popular Front or terrorist activities, followed an FBI investigation that began last year.

The FBI, reportedly concerned about the possible impact of the case on American hostages in the Middle East, has been unusually cautious in discussing its reasons for initially investigating the group, but has said the case was turned over to immigration agents after the investigation failed to produce grounds for the filing of any criminal charges.

The group allegedly was headed by Khader Musa Hamide, 32, of Glendale, a resident of the United States for 16 years who was reportedly hoping to obtain U.S. citizenship. Arab-American leaders have identified him as “an active Palestinian” concerned with civil rights, but have denied that he was involved in advocating terrorism.