Officials: Dirty Bomb Suspect a 'Small Fish'

ByABC News
August 15, 2002, 11:12 AM

— -- Some Officials Say Padilla Is a Minor Figure

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 14 The government media blitz after the arrest anAmerican accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb wasalmost unprecedented for a terrorist suspect post-Sept. 11.

Attorney General John Ashcroft held a news conference viasatellite while visiting officials in Moscow. Justice Departmentofficials in Washington called him a significant terrorism figureand President Bush weighed in to agree.

But two months later, U.S. law enforcement officials close tothe case say José Padilla is probably a "small fish" with no tiesto al Qaeda cell members in the United States.

The FBI's investigation has produced no evidence that Padilla had begun preparations for an attack and little reason tobelieve he had any support from al Qaeda to direct such a plot,said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Still, some authorities believe Padilla should remain detained.

Padilla, 31, is being held in a military brig in South Carolinaas an enemy combatant, a legal designation allowing the governmentto jail him without formal criminal charges. His attorney hasargued in court that he is being held illegally and should bereleased.

Investigators have said they believe Padilla, a Muslim convertand a former Chicago gang member, ventured overseas in search ofclerics connected to the most radical branch of Islamicfundamentalism.

In early June, Ashcroft announced from Moscow via satellitehookup that Padilla was arrested at O'Hare International Airport inChicago. Ashcroft's deputies also convened a news conference inWashington.

"We have disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot to attack theUnited States by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb," Ashcroftsaid, adding that the government's suspicions about Padilla's planscame from "multiple, independent, corroborating sources."

Now, two law enforcement officials close to the case say thereis no evidence a plot was under way. However, one had been"thought out as a possibility," an official said.

Padilla's attorney, Donna Newman, said the government wasavoiding a court case because it has little evidence against him.

"What we could analyze from government statements is that theydidn't have sufficient evidence to charge him," Newman said. "Allthey could do was allege that he was somehow involved in thetalking stages of a plan and they didn't even allege his role. Andthat is supposed to be enough to hold him without trial?"

Justice Department officials declined to comment on the matterTuesday.

A "dirty bomb" does not produce a nuclear explosion; itspreads radioactive material over a large area. Scientists say itis more likely to cause widespread sickness and panic than deaths.

Since Padilla's arrest, the government has been more low-key inannouncing arrests of terrorism suspects. No news conference washeld when James Ujaama was taken into custody last month in Denver.Instead, law enforcement officials simply confirmed theapprehension when reporters asked.

Ujaama was arrested as a material witness to terrorist activityand flown to Virginia. Federal authorities say they believe hesupplied computer equipment to an al Qaeda terrorist camp inAfghanistan.

Most of the information that led to Padilla's arrest came fromcaptured al Qaeda operational chief Abu Zubaydah, officials said.Zubaydah, the highest-ranking terrorist leader taken into U.S.custody since Sept. 11, was captured and wounded in a raid inFaisalabad, Pakistan, in late March.