After being held three years without charges, a US citizen who had allegedly planned to build a radioactive "dirty" bomb was charged on Tuesday with aiding terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.
The 11-count federal indictment -- the first brought against Jose Padilla since his arrest on May 8, 2002 -- accused him and four other men of running a US support cell providing money and recruits for a jihad campaign overseas.
It included no reference to previous accusations against Padilla, made with great fanfare by US officials, that he plotted with al-Qaeda to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the US and blow up apartment buildings using natural gas.
PHOTO: EPA
Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after returning from Pakistan at a time of high alert following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when US troops were fighting al-Qaeda militants and supporters in Afghanistan.
Human rights activists and some lawmakers and lawyers questioned the government's authority to detain him without charges indefinitely as an "enemy combatant." Padilla's lawyers asked the Supreme Court last month to limit this authority.
The main charges against the men were conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country; conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists, and providing material support for terrorists -- all between October 1993 and about Nov. 1, 2001. They could face life in prison if convicted.
The indictment said Padilla traveled abroad to receive militant training, but did not say where.
"All of these defendants are alleged members of a violent terrorist support cell that operated in the United States and Canada," Gonzales told a news conference.
Gonzales declined to comment on the previous dirty bomb or apartment bombing claims, saying they were outside Tuesday's indictment. Justice Department officials said the outlined charges did not back away from previous statements and did not rule out other charges in the future.
Padilla's lawyer, Donna Newman, said in New York that her client denied all of the allegations and looked forward to being vindicated at trial.
"We are very happy about this indictment. It's what we've asked for. You don't hold American citizens without charges," Newman said. "Now we can go to court and challenge the government's assertions."
Jennifer Daskal, of advocacy group Human Rights Watch, said the indictment "is a welcome development, albeit three years too late. Anyone picked up outside the combat environment should be charged or released."
As part of the proceedings, US President George W. Bush authorized Padilla's transfer from military to Justice Department control. Gonzales said Padilla was "no longer being detained ... as an enemy combatant."
Padilla, a former Chicago gang member and convert to Islam, had been held as an enemy combatant in a South Carolina military brig under the sweeping presidential powers enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Indicted with him were Adham Amin Hassoun, who is detained in Florida; Mohamed Hesham Youssef, who is in prison in Egypt; Kifah Wael Jayyousi, who is also detained in Florida, and Kassem Daher, who is outside the US.
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