Reuters AlertNet Lite - FACTBOX-Facts about Jose Padilla

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FACTBOX-Facts about Jose Padilla

16 Aug 2007 18:39:32 GMT
Source: Reuters

Aug 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. jury in Miami on Thursday convicted U.S. citizen Jose Padilla on all three charges in a case that has been a centerpiece of Bush administration efforts to battle terrorism. Here are some facts about him:

* Padilla, 36, was held without charge in a military prison for 3 1/2 years by order of President George W. Bush before being added to the terrorism-support case against co-defendants Adham Hassoun and Kifah Jayyousi.

* Padilla's lawyers argued that years of extreme isolation and interrogation by the U.S. military had left him too mentally impaired to help his lawyers defend him in court. But a U.S. judge ruled Padilla was mentally competent to stand trial, saying, "This defendant clearly has the capacity to assist his attorneys."

* Padilla has been in federal custody since May 2002, when he was arrested in Chicago on his return from Egypt.

* Bush ordered Padilla held in a military prison and the administration accused him of plotting to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States. Padilla was never charged with that. While a challenge to Bush's authority to hold him without charge was pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, Padilla was indicted in Florida and transferred to civilian custody last year.

* Prosecutors said Hassoun recruited Padilla at a Florida mosque and sent him to an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan to train as a killer. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier called Padilla their "star recruit."

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Last updated:Thu Aug 16 18:39:40 2007