Details offered in Padilla case

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON --The Justice Department on offered new details Tuesday of its case against Jose Padilla, accused of being an Al-Qaida operative, as a top official vigorously defended Bush administration policies permitting detention without trial of U.S. citizens suspected of terrorist activities.
Deputy Atty. Gen. James Comey described alleged meetings that Padilla, a U.S. citizen and former Chicago gang member, held with senior Al-Qaida leaders.
Comey said at a news conference that the discussions covered plans to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a U.S. city or blow up high-rise apartment buildings through natural-gas explosions.
Release of new information on Padilla appeared intended to answer concerns that the government had over-reached in denying a U.S. citizen normal access to the court system and to lay out a case that he was a key figure in a conspiracy that posed enormous danger to the public.