Al-Qaida detainee helped nab Padilla (identified via photo)

[sabra]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15769080/

Al-Qaida detainee helped nab Padilla
Prosecutors say he identified 'dirty bomb' suspect via photo

MIAMI - A senior al-Qaida member, held for years at an undisclosed overseas CIA prison, was a key source of information that led investigators to alleged terror operative Jose Padilla, federal prosecutors disclosed.

The informant was Abu Zubaydah, who was transferred in September from the secret foreign prison to the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Court papers filed Thursday say Zubaydah’s role in the Padilla investigation was recently declassified along with that of a second Guantanamo Bay detainee identified as Binyam Muhammad.

The pair provided information for a material witness warrant used to arrest Padilla in 2002 when he arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, is scheduled for trial Jan. 22 with two others on charges they were part of a North American terrorism support cell that provided money, supplies and recruits to Muslim extremist causes around the world. They have pleaded not guilty.

[Kagemusha]

1. I guess the prosecutors don't realize how bad this sounds

Makes it look like they got played into offering a photo of a low level operative (more commonly known as a wannabe) who was happily given up by a real terrorist...

[pinerow]

2. Old news...

nt