Agent: FBI sought terror suspect's help

Jose Padilla refused, was later declared an 'enemy combatant'

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- The FBI initially sought terror suspect Jose Padilla's cooperation to help prevent what intelligence sources indicated might be an imminent al Qaeda attack, an FBI agent testified Monday.

Padilla refused and was later implicated in an alleged radioactive "dirty bomb" plot and declared an enemy combatant.

Russell Fincher, an agent in the FBI's New York-based unit investigating Osama bin Laden, testified at a pretrial hearing for Padilla that he met him at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in May 2002 believing he could gain information on al Qaeda's plans.

"I believed there was a terrorist act that was going to happen. I believed he had knowledge of that. I needed his help," Fincher said of Padilla. "I didn't want to arrest him."

Fincher said that during a five-hour interview Padilla talked freely about his criminal past as a Chicago gang member, his conversion to Islam and his travels in Egypt, Pakistan and elsewhere. But when his story didn't add up, Fincher said he confronted Padilla with terrorist allegations and asked if he would testify before a grand jury about his purported al Qaeda connections.

"He stood up and told me the interview was over and it was time for him to go," Fincher said.

Padilla was arrested on a material witness warrant, which allows a person with direct knowledge of alleged criminal acts to be taken into custody.

A month later, President Bush designated him an "enemy combatant" and he was placed in military custody. He remained there until November, when he was charged in an existing Miami case.

The charges in the Miami case do not mention the "dirty bomb" plot but do claim that Padilla trained at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. Padilla has pleaded not guilty.

(There is more, here.)