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November 25, 2005
US: Why Islamist Padilla Was Not Charged For "Dirty Bomb"
According to the Guardian today, there is reason why Jose Padilla, who was charged yesterday with conspiring to "murder, maim and kidnap" people overseas as a member of a North American terrorist cell, was not indicted for the charge of conspiring to make a "dirty bomb".
The "dirty bomb" which he was accused of conspiring to manufacture was the reason why Padilla was held for three years in a military jail as an "enemy combatant". This plot, hatched with Al Qaeda operative Abu Zubadayah while in Lahore involved creating a "radiological dispersion device", containing materials to be stolen in the US. The "dirty bomb" had been intended for use against Washington.
The Guardian quotes from the New York Times, who stated that unnamed government officials
said the main evidence of Mr Padilla's involvement in the plots against US cities had come from two captured al-Qaida leaders, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and Abu Zubaydah, a leading al-Qaida recruiter. But the officials told the newspaper Mr Padilla could not be charged with the bomb plots because neither of the al-Qaida leaders could be used as witnesses as they had been subjected to harsh questioning and could open up charges from defence lawyers that their earlier statements resulted from torture. Officials also feared that their testimony could expose classified information about the CIA prison system in which the men were thought to be held.According to a report published by the CIA inspector general last year, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had suffered from excessive application of a technique known as "waterboarding", in which a detainee is strapped to a board and then immersed in water to half-drown, as part of interrogation procedure.The CIA has never publicly acknowledged it is detaining Mr Mohammed and Mr Zubaydah. It is not known where they are being held. But it was reported last month the CIA was using secret detention centres in eastern Europe, possibly in Poland and Romania, for interrogations, thus beyond the reach of US law.
A bill sponsored by Senator John McCain and passed in draft form by 90 votes to 9 earlier this month at the Senate, has yet to receive approval from the House of Representatives. Dick Cheney, Vice President has tried to modify the bill, to exempt the CIA from involvement. This action has led to an editorial in the Washington Post labeling Cheney as "Vice President for Torture".
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 25, 2005 8:35 PM
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