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Trial Begins for Accused Al-Qaida Operative

The trial of Jose Padilla begins today in Miami.

The accused al-Qaida operative was arrested five years ago after authorities became suspicious that he was involved in a plot to detonate a dirty bomb.

Federal prosecutors never charged him with that crime. Instead, they are trying him on a charge of being a member of an Islamic sleeper cell.

NPR's Mike Pesca reports on what has changed since Padilla was first apprehended; then, Slate.com legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick speaks with Alex Chadwick about the government's credibility in the Padilla case.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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