Sami Al-Arian, the former University of South Florida professor once accused of being a leading Palestinian terrorist, was released from custody today for the first time in more than five years, the Associated Press reported.

Mr. Al-Arian had been jailed while awaiting trial on contempt charges for refusing to testify before a grand jury about Muslim organizations in the United States. He had been in federal custody since February 2003, when he was arrested on charges that accused him of being a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In a mixed verdict in 2005, a jury acquitted him of some of the original charges but deadlocked on others. In a plea agreement, he later admitted to a single count of conspiracy and was sentenced to 57 months in prison, with credit for time served. He also agreed to be deported after serving the remaining year and a half.

Since completing that sentence, however, he has been held on contempt charges for refusing to testify. He will be on home detention at his daughter’s residence in Virginia while awaiting trial on those charges. —Charles Huckabee