Arrest shows need for continuing war on al-qaida - Ashcroft

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network continues to pose a serious threat, as shown by the arrest of an American suspected of preparing a ‘‘dirty’’ bomb attack on the US, Attorney General John Ashcroft said today.

‘‘Bin Laden has not been heard from for a long time,’’ Ashcroft said after meeting Swiss Justice Minister Ruth Metzler in Bern. ‘‘But we continue to believe that the al-Qaida threat is a real one, even without his public statements.’’

He said ‘‘there are too many al-Qaida’’ members still at large.

‘‘We do not believe that al-Qaida maintained camps where thousands or perhaps tens of thousands were trained simply so they could send 20 individuals into activity for one day,’’ Ashcroft said, referring to the September 11 attacks.

‘‘We will continue to work at the highest level to disrupt, destroy’’ their network, he said.

Ashcroft refused to discuss evidence that led to the May 8 arrest of Jose ‘‘Pucho’’ Padilla on his arrival in Chicago from Pakistan.

Officials claim Padilla was scouting out sites to detonate a bomb that would spread radiological contamination in Washington or elsewhere on American soil.

‘‘I am not going to comment on evidence in this matter, but it is clear that he was trained in explosive devices after time in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that he had done research in radiological and explosive devices and contamination,’’ Ashcroft said.

He also said he did not know what Padilla, who stopped in Zurich on his way from Pakistan to Chicago, was doing in Switzerland.

‘‘I have no idea what his motives were’’ for visiting Switzerland, he said.

Authorities described Padilla, also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, as a former Chicago gang member who was raised as a Roman Catholic but converted to Islam.

Undersecretary of State John Bolton indicated Padilla was carrying plans for the attack when he was picked up in Chicago.

Dirty bombs combine traditional explosives with radioactive material. While not creating a nuclear explosion, they could release small amounts of radioactive material over dozens of city blocks.