Washington, D.C.

Terror suspect’s trail places al-Qaida base in Pakistan

The tracking of Jose Padilla’s alleged “dirty bomb” plot to Pakistan adds to growing evidence that some al-Qaida members have begun using Pakistan as a base to plan international terrorist operations, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Padilla, the American citizen being detained by the military as an enemy combatant, is accused of being part of a plot to detonate a radiological weapon in the United States. He worked out of Lahore, Pakistan, and twice met with senior al-Qaida operatives in Karachi in March, officials said.

Authorities in an unspecified foreign country are questioning at least one of Padilla’s alleged accomplices from Lahore, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Houston

Andersen jury ordered to continue deliberations

Jurors in Arthur Andersen LLP’s obstruction of justice trial announced Wednesday that they were deadlocked, but the judge told them to continue their deliberations.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon reminded jurors of their duty to “deliver a verdict if you can do so without surrendering your conscientious conviction,” then told the panel to return today to resume deliberating.

The jury is trying to decide whether the accounting firm illegally obstructed justice by shredding documents to thwart federal regulators investigating former client Enron Corp.

Cuba

Guantanamo population rises

Thirty-four detainees accused of links to Afghanistan’s fallen Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terrorist network arrived Wednesday at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay.

The latest arrivals bring the total number of detainees at the remote outpost to 468. Camp Delta has space for another 144 detainees, but with more construction planned could eventually hold nearly 2,000.

“Today was a good day for us. We helped get 34 suspected terrorists off the battlefield and out of the fight,” said Army Lt. Col. Joe Hoey, a spokesman for Joint Task Force 160 overseeing the detention mission.