MIAMI, Florida � With the stroke of a pen, President George W. Bush transformed alleged terrorist Jose Padilla from an enemy combatant with few legal rights to a criminal defendant protected by the Bill of Rights.

The flip-flop that suddenly granted Mr. Padilla a host of rights that he had been denied for more than three years comes after the Bush administration fought bitterly to detain Mr. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, and deny him access to federal courts, his attorneys and the media.