Ghana National Council: U.S enemy combatant-Jose Padilla pleads not guilty.

MIAMI (Jan. 12) - Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was held for more than three years as an "enemy combatant," pleaded not guilty Thursday to criminal charges alleging he was part of a secret network that supported violent Muslim extremists around the world.

Padilla entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber one week after being transferred from military to civilian custody.

The judge also began hearing arguments to determine whether Padilla should be released on bail, which is opposed by federal prosecutors.

Padilla, 35, was indicted in November on charges of conspiring to murder U.S. nationals and providing material support to terrorists as part of a North American cell that provided money, material and fighters for violent Islamic jihad. If convicted, he faces a potential life sentence.

The former Chicago gang member and Muslim convert was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant after U.S. officials claimed he plotted as an al-Qaida operative to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" and blow up apartment buildings in major U.S. cities. But the indictment makes no mention of those allegations.