Citizenship Of Former Ark. Grad Student Revoked

A former University of Arkansas graduate student from the Middle East lost his U.S. citizenship Thursday and was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

Arwah Jaber was previously acquitted of an aiding-terrorism charge but convicted of lesser offenses, including obtaining his citizenship fraudulently. He also was sentenced to three years supervised probation upon completion of his prison term.

Jaber, who was born in the West Bank, was arrested at the Northwest Regional Airport on June 14, 2005, as he prepared to leave on a trip to the Middle East. Prosecutors said he planned to join Palestinian Islamic Jihad, labeled by U.S. authorities as a terrorist organization.

Jaber was acquitted June 20 of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization. But the jury convicted Jaber of five lesser charges: obtaining his naturalization unlawfully, making false statements on passport and immigration applications, and two counts of making false statements on credit card applications.