US citizen Jose Padilla was found guilty of conspiracy to support terrorism overseas on Thursday after being detained for several years as an "enemy combatant" without charges.

 

US citizen Jose Padilla was found guilty of conspiracy to support terrorism overseas Thursday after being detained for several years as an "enemy combatant" without charges.

 

The verdict came after less than two days of deliberations by a federal jury in Miami, Fla. Sentencing is set for December 5.

 

Padilla's two codefendants, Adham Hassoun and Kifan Jayyousi, were also convicted on the three counts as charged: conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim people in a foreign country; conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists, and providing material support for terrorists.

 

All three defendants face life in prison.

 

Padilla, born in New York and converted to Islam, pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal the verdict.

 

He was originally arrested on accusations that he planned to set off radioactive "dirty bombs" in the US.

 

However, Thursday's convictions are not related to those accusations, and prosecutors did not present the "dirty bomb" plot to the jury.

 

US legal experts said the verdict is a "critical vindication" for the US Department of Justice and its post-9/11 strategy for prosecuting terrorism cases.

 

Padilla, 36, was taken into custody in Chicago as he stepped off a flight from Pakistan in 2002, and the Bush administration declared him an "enemy combatant" and had him transferred to military custody.

 

The Supreme Court ducked the chance to rule on the legality of Padilla's detention in 2006, arguing that the issue was moot after his transfer to civilian custody for the Miami trial.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2007)