FBI Agent Describes Padilla Code

Jose Padilla, also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, who was arrested in an alleged plot to spread radioactive material across parts of America, is shown in this undated file photo. The judge in the federal trial of alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla refused Thursday, June 7, 2007, to require same-day release of tapes of wiretapped phone calls and other audio evidence to journalists. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke agreed with government arguments that the mandate sought by The Associated Press and other media outlets would have unfairly burdened the U.S. Attorney's Office, which prepares copies of such materials. (AP Photo/NBC News, File) (AP)

MIAMI -- An FBI agent testified Thursday in the trial of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla that members of an alleged Islamic extremist support network talked in code, substituting words like "tourism" and "football" for "jihad."

The agent, John T. Kavanaugh, said participants suspected they were being overheard by government officials and urged one another not to openly discuss sensitive matters over the phone.

"They believed they were not the only people listening to the telephone calls. It was said explicitly," Kavanaugh said.

Among the most common code words, he said, was "tourism" in place of "jihad" _ an Arabic word for holy war _ and "tourist" for "mujahedeen fighter." There was also talk of "the first area," which Kavanaugh said meant Afghanistan, as well as "resort places," or countries where jihad was being fought.

The wiretap intercepts that were played for jurors Thursday mostly involved Padilla's two co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, although one call purportedly mentioned Padilla by his alias of "Ibrahim."

All three are charged with being part of a support cell for Islamic extremist groups worldwide, including al-Qaida.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen held as an enemy combatant for 3 1/2 years, is accused of filling out a form to attend an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan. U.S. officials originally said Padilla came to the United States in 2002 on a mission to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb," but those allegations are not part of the Miami case.

The FBI listened to phone calls involving the suspected conspirators from 1994 to 2001, eventually intercepting about 300,000 conversations. Of those, 123 are being played for jurors.

In one 1995 call, Hassoun is telling Jayyousi and others in this suspected code that it's important to let interested Muslims know where the action is.

"We work toward always trying to inform them of the nice places for tourism and resort places," Hassoun says, according to an FBI translation from Arabic.

In a 1997 call, Hassoun switches back and forth from "tourism" to "jihad" and then describes what the word should mean.

"Whenever jihad is mentioned in the Quran, it can only mean that it is a battle for the sake of Allah," Hassoun is quoted as saying.