A Virginia man described as a top Hamas operative is free on bond.

Ismael Elbarasse of Annandale was arrested earlier this month after officers pulled him over near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. Police said his wife was using a video camera to tape the bridge's structure.

Vickie LeDuc, a spokeswoman for the Maryland US attorney's office, says the court imposed a $1 million bond to secure Elbarasse's release to Illinois.

Federal authorities have issued a material witness warrant for Elbarasse to appear before a federal grand jury that's probing the financing of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas.

Neither Elbarasse nor his wife was charged with any wrongdoing on the bridge, but Maryland authorities held him in custody after discovering that the material witness warrant had been issued for him in Chicago.

In court documents, authorities allege Elbarasse and defendant Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook shared a Virginia bank account that was used to launder money for the Palestinian extremist group.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)