Jim, I decided to take profit on those cube leaps, booked a 13% gain just now. I will happily take singles in the current state of the market..
Hey, check this out>
chicagotribune.com
U.S.: 'Dirty' bomb suspect arrested on flight to Chicago
Suspect a former Chicago street gang member who converted to Islam
By Stephen J. Hedges
Washington Bureau
June 10, 2002, 2:02 PM CDT
WASHINGTON -- A Chicago man who federal authorities allege had become part of an Al Qaeda terrorist plot to detonate a “dirty” radioactive device -- possibly in Washington, D.C. -- is now in U.S. military custody following his arrest a month ago at O’Hare International Airport.
Jose Padilla, who federal law enforcement and intelligence officials identified as a U.S. citizen, was detained May 8 as he completed a journey from Pakistan to Chicago, according to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Padilla converted to Islam while in prison in the U.S. during the 1990s, Ashcroft said, and took up the name Abdullah Al Muhajir. The suspect is a former Chicago Street gang member, authorities said.
“We have captured a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or ‘dirty bomb,’ in the United States, Ashcroft said.
“We know from multiple, independent, and corroborating sources that Abdullah Al Muhajir was closely associated with Al Qaeda and that as an Al Qaeda operative he was involved in planning future terrorist attacks,” he said.
Muhajir has been held since last month as a federal criminal suspect, but was transferred to military custody, Ashcroft said, after President George Bush designated him as an “enemy combatant who poses a serious and continuing threat to the American people and our national security.”
Though the details surrounding Muhajir’s past are still sketchy, one intelligence source said that he was known to have been in Afghanistan in 2001, and proposed the idea for a radiological bomb attack in the U.S. to Abu Zubaydah, a senior Al Qaeda leader.
Muhajir also took part in meetings with senior Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan in early 2002, the source said.
Zubaydah was arrested earlier this year in Pakistan and is said to be cooperating with U.S. and Pakistani interrogators.
Ashcroft, who was in Moscow on other business, made the announcement through a television hookup. He said Muhajir was arrested May 8 as he flew into O’Hare. The 31-year-old is a native of New York City who moved to Chicago at age 4.
Dirty radioactive bombs are different from nuclear explosions -- they use the power of conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material, which can then contaminate a large area. The radioactive element of a dirty bomb does not have to be highly enriched uranium or plutonium, but can come from less critical material, such as hospital or industrial waste.
In a picture-taking session with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Bush said in response to a question: ``We have a man detained who is a threat to the country and that, thanks to the vigilance of our intelligence-gathering and law enforcement, he is now off the street, where he should be.’’
Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, asked at a news conference here whether authorities had identified any co-conspirators in the U.S., replied, ``We’re not going to comment on that.’’
A senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity said Muhajir was trained by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan to wire explosives and to research radioactive dispersal devices. He was not believed to have had a bomb at the time of his apprehension.
``We don’t believe it went beyond the planning stages,’’ the official said.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, appearing at a news conference with Thompson and Mueller, said officials could not say with certainty that the nation’s capital was the likely target, although he said Muhajir ``did indicate knowledge of the Washington, D.C. area.’’
Muhajir was taken this morning to a high-security Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., said Lt. Col. Rivers Johnson, a Pentagon spokesman, who also said that Muhajir was transferred from Justice Department custody in New York City.
Muhajir had a lawyer in New York but his access to a lawyer probably will be severely restricted now that he is in military custody, Johnson said. He said the alleged Al Qaeda operative was being held separately from other prisoners at the brig.
Ashcroft said Al Qaeda apparently believed that Muhajir would be permitted to travel freely within the U.S. because of his U.S. citizenship and because he carried a U.S. passport.
Bush, based on recommendations from Ashcroft and White House counsel Al Gonzales, designated the suspect as a combatant in papers signed late Sunday. That designation allowed the Defense Department to take custody of Muhajir from the Justice Department. |
