U.S. Drops “Dirty Bomb” Claim in Terror Case

The United States has dropped “dirty bomb” and poison gas accusations against an alleged co-conspirator of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who is serving a 17-year prison sentence for supporting terrorism, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, June 4).

British resident Binyam Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and, after spending more than two years in unknown locations, was placed at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in 2004. U.S. Justice Department officials originally alleged that he and Padilla planned to detonate a radiological weapon in the United States or release cyanide gas in nightclubs. Those charges were eventually dropped from the case against Padilla, and the department recently removed them Mohammed as well (see GSN, Jan. 22).

“There are no serious, hard charges against Mohammed," said his attorney, Air Force Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley. “The whole thing the government was hanging its hat on, pursuing Mr. Mohammed, was the dirty bomb.”

Mohammed attorneys told the Post that they believe the charges were dropped so the Justice Department would not be forced to reveal classified documents showing that Mohammed had been tortured.

A U.S. judge had ordered the department to provide exculpatory material to Mohammed’s lawyers by Oct. 6. Serious charges were dropped that day.

“It's no coincidence that this happened when the judge ordered discovery,” said Clive Stafford Smith, another Mohammed attorney. “It's clear they think that by dropping the allegations they can avoid having to turn over the documents.”

Mohammed now faces a remaining charge of receiving al-Qaeda training in Afghanistan, and British officials have asked that he be released to their custody, Bradley said (Peter Finn, Washington Post, Oct. 15).