Padilla Indicted

From the Washington Post:

Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held by the Bush administration for three years without charges as an enemy combatant plotting a "dirty bomb" attack in the United States, has been indicted on charges unrelated to any potential terrorist attack in this country.
Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam, was indicted by a Miami federal grand jury Thursday on charges he and four others were part of a U.S.-based terrorism conspiracy to "murder, maim, and kidnap" people overseas, Justice Department officials announced at a press conference in Washington today...The indictments avoid a Supreme Court showdown over how long the government can hold a U. S. citizen without charging them. Lawyers for Padilla had asked the nation's highest court to review his case last month, and the Bush administration was facing a deadline next Monday for filing its legal arguments. The Supreme Court had been asked to rule on how long a U.S. citizen can be held in military custody pending charges.

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--Tom Hayes