NEW YORK, April 16: US authorities have decided to deport a Palestinian professor, living in Florida, who they were unable to convict in a court of law on terrorism charges, media reports said on Saturday.

Prof Sami Al-Arian, who is a legal resident of the United States, has agreed to be deported rather than face a new trial, the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune said.

Prof Al-Arian and three co-defendants were arrested in 2003 and charged with providing money and support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Last December, a federal jury in Tampa, Florida, found Al-Arian not guilty on eight charges and failed to reach a verdict on nine others after a six-month trial.