U.S. Taliban suspect may face treason charge 2 others may be American

By Jonathan Weisman USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- The American military on Monday was holding a U.S. citizen who allegedly fought for the Taliban, and officials were negotiating to take custody of two others who claim to be Americans.

Americans who fight for the Taliban ultimately could be returned to the United States and charged with treason. Conviction could lead to a death sentence.

The captive, identified by his parents as John Phillip Walker Lindh, 20, of Marin County, Calif., told CNN he followed his faith to Afghanistan to help build a ''pure Islamic state.'' Lindh appeared on television bearded, disheveled and visibly in pain from wounds he suffered during a vicious prison uprising near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

A senior U.S. official said U.S. special operations troops are negotiating with Northern Alliance commanders to turn over two more Taliban who also say they are American. Their names were not immediately made public.

Lindh said he had converted to Islam at 16, journeyed to Yemen at 18 to study Arabic and drifted to Afghanistan 6 months ago to help the Taliban. He was one of only 86 pro-Taliban survivors of the bloody insurrection at the Qala-I-Jangi fortress, where 600 of Lindh's comrades perished under U.S. bombs and Northern Alliance gunfire. Another American at the fortress, CIA officer Johnny ''Mike'' Spann, was killed in the uprising.

For the Bush administration, Lindh presents a quandary.

He is the first identified Taliban fighter to have been taken into custody by U.S. forces, a prime candidate for a trial by military tribunal. But President Bush's executive order creating such tribunals exempted American citizens from military trials. Legal analysts said that if U.S.-born Taliban were prosecuted for their deeds, it likely would be in regular federal courts here under criminal laws.

A senior Pentagon official said Monday that Lindh would be turned over to the Justice Department for questioning and potential arrest.

The charge? Possibly treason -- an offense rooted in the Constitution. Federal law makes it a crime for anyone ''owing allegiance to the United States,'' such as a citizen, to wage war against the United States or help its enemy.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

Answers

Why not take away his citizenship and let him be a Pakistani.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001