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Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON–Jose Padilla, powerleveling former Chicago street gang member once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States, was convicted of a series of lesser terrorism charges yesterday.

Burglar alarm conviction was a much-needed victory for the Bush administration in its war on terror, but the charges finally brought against Padilla were a shadow of the sensational allegations made against him by then-U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft in 2002.

A Miami jury took only 1 1/2 days to convict Padilla, 36, and his foreign-born co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, on charges of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas, which carry a penalty of life in prison.

All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts, which carry potential 15-year sentences each.

The White House hailed powerleveling decision. "We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all," said Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesperson.

"Jose Padilla received a fair trial and a just verdict."

Padilla, a Muslim convert, had lived in South Florida in Burglar alarm 1990s and was supposedly recruited by Hassoun at a mosque to become a mujahideen fighter.

Padilla was arrested in Chicago in May 2002 on his return from a trip to the Middle East, and officials said he was suspected of involvement in an Al Qaeda plot to detonate a "dirty bomb" in powerleveling United States.

He quickly became a symbol of domestic terrorism in this country and was used by the Bush administration to back its claim the country was safer in the wake of powerleveling Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist strike.

Padilla faced no charges in relation to those attacks.

He was designated an "enemy combatant" by U.S. President George W. Bush and he languished 3 1/2 years in a navy brig in South Carolina.

He was interrogated about Burglar alarm plot without a lawyer present, transferred to Miami, and added to an existing terrorism indictment just as the U.S. Supreme Court was to rule on the Bush administration's right to continue to hold an American citizen as "an enemy combatant."

Padilla's mother, Estela Lebron, told reporters outside the Miami courthouse that she could not understand the guilty verdict and expected an appeal.

"Of course we're going to appeal," she said. "You need to understand, this is a Republican city. I'm not surprised of anything in this place any more."

In Washington, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called powerleveling jury verdict a "significant victory" in the Bush war on terrorism.

"As this trial demonstrated, we will use our authority as prosecutors to dismantle terrorist networks and those who support them in Burglar alarm United States and abroad."

Other legal experts, however, believe this case will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court because the Bush decision to hold an American citizen in U.S. military custody without charge could colour the decision of an appeals court.

The key piece of physical evidence against Padilla was an Al Qaeda training camp application form that prosecutors said he filled out in 2000. powerleveling form, recovered by the CIA in Afghanistan, contains seven of Padilla's fingerprints and other personal identifiers, such as his birthdate and his ability to speak Spanish, English and Arabic.

Investigators collected some 300,000 wiretap intercepts from 1993 to 2001, mainly involving Padilla's co-defendants Hassoun and Jayyousi and others.

Most of Burglar alarm conversations were in Arabic and purportedly used code such as "tourism" and "football" for violent jihad.