WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday offered its first detailed account of the activities of Jose Padilla, alleging that in addition to wanting to plant a "dirty bomb," he also plotted with Al Qaeda to blow up high-rise apartment buildings in the United States.
The former Chicago gang member, according to the newly declassified information, took explosives training in Afghanistan in summer 2001 with Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, one of seven alleged Al Qaeda operatives the Justice Department says may be planning attacks in the U.S.
The intelligence said the dirty bomb threat to which Padilla had been linked since his arrest in May 2002 had been dismissed by Al Qaeda chieftain Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Instead of a plot to wrap radioactive material around conventional explosives, spewing fallout over a limited area, Mohammed reportedly favored a plan to flatten apartment buildings with natural gas explosions.
The unusual public airing of intelligence, released at a Justice Department news conference, reflected what officials said was an effort to aid public understanding of the case. It comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule soon on whether Padilla's arrest and detention were constitutional. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, has never been charged.
The timing of the release triggered concern that the Justice Department was trying to influence the case over Padilla's detention. When the case was argued in April, some justices questioned whether the government had gone too far in denying Padilla a hearing.
"It is an opening statement at a trial which they refuse to let go forward," said Donna Newman, a New York lawyer representing Padilla. Newman said the intelligence was nothing more than unproven allegations, and she noted that Padilla had consistently disavowed having planned an attack and had denied any formal alliance with Al Qaeda.
"What does it have to do with whether the president of the United States has the authority to have somebody put in a black hole forever?" she asked.
Newman said the revelations were unfair to her client because the Defense Department was preventing her and other lawyers from speaking about the case openly and fully.
Padilla was arrested after arriving at Chicago's O'Hare airport on a flight from Pakistan.
Although no charges have been filed against Padilla, President Bush has designated him an enemy combatant -- a status that the government says justifies indefinite detention. Until very recently, Padilla was not allowed to see a lawyer.
