| WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- A former District of Columbia schools official was arrested on charges he conspired to provide support for terror groups and commit violent acts abroad. Kifah W. Jayyousi, 43, was arrested Sunday at an airport in Detroit as he arrived on an international flight, federal officials told The Washington Post. He was ordered held without bond. His attorney told the newspaper Jayyousi had done nothing illegal and planned to plead innocent. An FBI affidavit alleges Jayyousi ran charities that, U.S. officials said, raised money and found volunteers for Muslim causes, such as fighting in Chechnya and Somalia. If convicted of conspiring to commit violent acts abroad, Jayyousi could be sentenced to life in prison. The charge of providing material support to terrorists carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Jayyousi, hired by District officials from the Detroit school system, worked as chief of facilities for the D.C. school system from 1990 to 2001, overseeing building maintenance. The Post said he had been under surveillance since the mid-1990s but there was no indication school officials had been told of government suspicions about the man. |