WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday denied a request by the government to transfer a terror suspect from military custody to a civilian jail and said the Supreme Court should review the case.

    The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals was a blow to the Bush administration, which had been holding Jose Padilla, a US citizen, for three and a half years in a military jail as an "enemy combatant" and initially accused him of plotting a "dirty bomb" attack in the United States.

    The appeals court ruled in September that the president had the authority to detain terror suspects indefinitely, but Padilla's attorneys appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.

    A federal grand jury in Florida indicted Padilla last month for conspiring to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas and providing material support to terrorists abroad.

    "The defendants, along with other individuals, operated and participated in a North American support cell that sent money, physical assets and mujahideen recruits to overseas conflicts for the purposes of fighting a violent jihad," the indictment said.

    After Padilla was indicted, the government asked the court to transfer him from military custody to civilian authorities and argued that the Supreme Court should dismiss Padilla's case as he would no longer be in military detention.

    The appeals court said the government actions "have given rise to at least an appearance that the purpose of these actions may be to avoid consideration of our decision by the Supreme Court."

    The 14-page ruling questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3 1/2 years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set to convince a grand jury in Florida to indict him.

    The administration had risked its credibility before the courtsby appearing to try to keep the Supreme Court from reviewing the extent of the president's power to hold enemy combatants without charges, the court said.

    Padilla, a former gang member in Chicago and Muslim convert, was arrested in 2002 after returning from Pakistan and has been held under Defense Department custody in a South Carolina military brig for three years as an "enemy combatant." Enditem