Bomb suspect to face terror charges in US
Jose Padilla, the alleged al-Qaida operative held as an “enemy combatant” for more than three years, was en route to Miami tonight to face charges that he was part of a US terror cell that recruited fighters and raised money for global Islamic holy war.
Padilla was being transferred from a military brig in South Carolina to the federal detention centre in downtown Miami, according to two law enforcement officials.
An official announcement has not been made.
Padilla is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court, which would mark his first time before a judge since his arrest 3 1/2 years ago.
Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, has been held by the Bush administration without criminal charges since his arrest in late 2001 on suspicion of a plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” inside the US.
The charges brought in an indictment in November do not involve those allegations, alleging instead that Padilla joined a North American terror support network that sent him overseas to train with al-Qaida and to “murder, maim and kidnap” people on foreign soil.
Padilla’s long detention by the Bush administration has spawned multiple court rulings over the scope of presidential power in the war on terror. The US Supreme Court has been asked to use Padilla’s case to define that power over US citizens who are detained on American soil.
The transfer of Padilla from military to civilian custody was approved yesterday by the Supreme Court, which overruled a previous ruling by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Padilla is accused of being one of the recruits of two co-defendants in the Miami case: Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a Jordanian who became a US citizen in 1987, and Lebanese-born Palestinian Adhan Amin Hassoun.
They are charged with raising money and recruiting operatives for violent Islamic causes in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Algeria, Kashmir and elsewhere. Much of the government’s case is based on some 50,000 wiretaps that date back a decade. Their trial is expected next autumn.
Jayyousi was in a Miami federal court earlier today, asking to be released on bail.
Jayyousi, who has been in special solitary confinement since his arrest in March 2005, should be released because he needs to prepare for a complex trial and is enduring difficult jail conditions, his lawyer told US District Judge Marcia Cooke at a detention hearing.
“There is a presumption of innocence,” said the attorney, William Swor. “There is a due process right to prepare for a case.”
Judge Cooke said she would announce her decision later tonight.
Jayyousi also has difficulty preparing for trial because of strict limitations on what he can have in his cell, including the use of only a 3-inch pencil to write, Mr Swor said. He also cannot get proper dental care and is prevented from taking part in regular Friday prayers with other jailed Muslims.
Prosecutors acknowledged that Jayyousi is not a danger to the community but insisted he could easily flee because of a web of radical Islamic contacts he has around the world.
