WikiLeaks: 9/11 leader advised Chicago gang member

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WASHINGTON — The mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. met with a former Chicago gang member, Jose Padilla, to order the destruction of an unspecified building in Chicago, according to a Defense Department memo released Monday by WikiLeaks.

The Dec. 8, 2006, memo was one of 779 secret files about detainees in the U.S. Guantanamo Bay military prison that WikiLeaks posted on the Internet.

According to the Defense Department memo, in early 2002 Padilla met with the Sept. 11 mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to “discuss” future operations in the U.S. He “directed Padilla to travel to Chicago, Illinois, rent an apartment, and initiate a natural gas explosion to cause the building to collapse,” the memo said. Padilla also was told to look into “the feasibility of an operation to set fire to a hotel or gas station” in the U.S.

Padilla was arrested by U.S. authorities after he landed at O’Hare Airport on May 8, 2002, suspected of wanting to plant a “dirty bomb” in the U.S. Convicted on lesser charges in 2008, Padilla is currently serving a 17-year, four-month prison sentence.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms” the release of classified information.