Jury Finds José Padilla Guilty on all Counts

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The Brooklyn, New York born Padilla had been in U.S custody since his May 8, 2002 arrest as a material witness. A month later he was labeled an 'enemy combatant' allowing the U.S government to forgo American law and detain him in a military prison where he was held for over three years before transfer to a civilian court. The jury had deliberated for a mere day and a half before presenting their decision. Sentencing is set for December 5th. Padilla and his co-defendants could face life in prison.

Originally accused in a plot to set off a so-called radioactive 'dirty bomb', no such charges were found in the actual indictment. This was partly due to the fact that his interrogation was conducted while he was held in military custody without the presence of an attorney and failure to read him his constitutional rights against self-incrimination. The U.S government had tried to portray Padilla as a Muslim terrorist seeking to attack the U.S and praised his detention as a major victory against terror shortly after September 11th.

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The key piece of evidence presented by the prosecutors was a five page document the government contended to be an application for an Al-Qaeda run terror camp in Afghanistan. Padilla's fingerprints were found on the paper. "He provided himself to al Qaeda for training to learn to murder, kidnap and maim," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier in closing arguments.

The defense has countered that Padilla had merely traveled to Egypt to study Islam and become more proficient in the Arabic language. "His intent was to study, not to murder," said Padilla attorney Michael Caruso.

Padilla, a former street gang member had converted to Islam while serving a stint in prison. Hassoun is a Lebanese-born Palestinian working as a computer programmer while Jayyousi, a naturalized U.S citizen was a civil engineer who also ran the 'American Worldwide Relief' organization also publishing an Islamic newsletter called the Islam Report.

Sources taken from the AP & CNN