American Taliban Fighter Indicted

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 06, 2002

American Taliban Fighter Indicted

A U.S. federal grand jury indicted American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh on Tuesday, accusing him of conspiring to kill fellow Americans in Afghanistan.

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A U.S. federal grand jury indicted American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh on Tuesday, accusing him of conspiring to kill fellow Americans in Afghanistan.

Attorney General John Ashcroft, while announcing the 10-count indictment, said Lindh was "an al-Qaida-trained terrorist who conspired with the Taliban to kill his fellow citizens."

He said the grand jury "examined the government's case and saw fit to charge John Walker Lindh with 10 specific crimes."

Lindh was also accused of conspiring to provide support to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida, and supplying services to the Taliban. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted.

According to the indictment, Lindh agreed in May or June last year to attend an al-Qaida training camp even though he knew that America and its citizens were the enemies of (Osama) bin Laden and al-Qaida and that a principal purpose of al-Qaida was to fight and kill Americans.

After the September 11 attacks, Lindh remained with his fighting group "despite having been told that bin Laden had ordered the attacks," the indictment said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lindh's attorneys asked a federal court in Virginia on Tuesday to release him pending trial.

The attorneys, in written papers, said there is no evidence that Lindh is "a flight risk" and charges against him are so weak that they are "insufficient to establish probable cause for the crimes charged."

Lindh, a 20-year-old Californian, was captured by U.S. authorities and the Northern Alliance forces in November in Afghanistan after a prison uprising of Taliban fighters. He was brought back to the U.S. by military aircraft on January 23 and appeared in court the following day.

A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday on Lindh's continuing detention at a city jail.

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