Disappointed UA Graduate Student Chose War

Arrest Records Show Student Distraught After Graduation Derailed

Last updated Friday, June 17, 2005 9:37 PM CDT in Front

By Ron Wood
The Morning News

According to the affidavit, one of Jaber's professors told authorities Jaber, a graduate student in chemistry, had been pushing for the defense of his dissertation so he could graduate last month but was told by "Professor No. 1" it was premature to think about his dissertation defense. In the days followeing, the professor noticed a change in Jaber's behavior and he started talking about fighting for the Palestine cause.

A notice posted on a UA chemistry department Web site said Jaber was scheduled this past Monday to defend his dissertation "Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry for the Characterization of Polymers and Copolymers."

Defending the dissertation is one of the last steps toward graduation.

Jaber received his bachelor's degree in 1996 and master's degree in 1998 from Pittsburg State University in Kansas. His professors there said they were shocked at the news of Jaber's arrest.

"My impression is that this is totally out of character -- totally incongruous," said Charles Blatchley, chairman of the chemistry department at Pittsburg State.

Blatchley said he remembered nothing unusual about Jaber during his time there.

Jaber and his brother attended Pittsburg State, Blatchley said. He added Jaber married an American woman while in school. The affidavit states Jaber is married to Dawn Jaber.

Blatchley said Jaber was accepted in the doctoral program at Georgetown University in Washington, but apparently never attended school there, coming instead to Arkansas.

"He was a nice man. He was a very good student. He was very honest and a hard worker," said Dilip K. Paul, an associate professor who oversaw Jaber's work on his master's degree. He said news of Jaber's arrest was "unthinkable" and "very shocking."

Paul worked with Jaber five to six hours a day for two years, the professor said.

Paul said he talked with Jaber and several of his professors during a speaking engagement at the UA earlier this year. Jaber was "upbeat" and his professors appeared to be "very happy with him."

Charles Wilkins, a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, confirmed Friday that he was "one of the professors" to whom Jaber made comments.

Wilkins was on a committee to evaluate Jaber's dissertation.

Wilkins was the author and Jaber was listed as a co-author of a paper on the same general subject as Jaber's dissertation.

Wilkins referred all other questions to the university's spokesmen.

UA spokesman Charles Crowson would only confirm Jaber was a UA student. He said the UA would be making no comment on the Jaber arrest "until authorized to do so."

An unidentified man who answered the university telephone number listed for Jaber said he was not allowed to comment, citing "university policy." Jaber did not have a home telephone number listed in the local directory.

Bill Cromwell, deputy U.S. attorney, referred calls about Jaber to a Department of Justice spokesman in Washington, D.C., Bryan Sierra.

Sierra provided documents related to the arrest, including the agent's affidavit, but said he could not comment about the situation.

The affidavit contained excerpts from an e-mail Jaber allegedly sent to two university professors. Jaber wrote because he would not graduate in May, "I decided to take an honorable job in Palestine with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Organization to pursue a more noble cause -- freedom, justice and peace for the Palestinians and to fight the Israeli terrorism."

According to the affidavit, Jaber told federal agents he and his wife planned to attend his sister's wedding in "Palestinian Territory." His wife was to return to Fayetteville, but Jaber planned to stay or would be unable to return to the United States.

The U.S. State Department has designated the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a terrorist organization.

Jaber also admitted telling associates at the UA if he died an honorable death, his wife would be taken care of financially for at least five years, according to the affidavit. He also said he had called an individual in Palestine at 2 a.m. local time from a telephone booth so the individual would not be under surveillance by Israeli defense forces. That person allegedly told Jaber to "return to the fundamentalist values of the Quran and devote himself to jihad instead of making money." Jaber later told authorities that statement was untrue.

The affidavit also stated Jaber said his knowledge of chemistry would help the jihad cause and he had been wounded by Israeli forces when he was younger but later clarified by saying he was wounded while running away from Israeli forces.

The affidavit also says Jaber told authorities his wife did not know about his plan but her statement to authorities indicated she knew he had told professors and others of his plans to allegedly join the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Jeff Smith contributed to this report.

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