American Taleban fighter knew of terror attack plans

16 Jan, 2002 12:02 PM5 mins to read

WASHINGTON - Three months before the September 11 attacks on America, John Walker Lindh learned that Osama bin Laden had sent people to the United States to carry out suicide missions.

It was revealed yesterday that Walker, the 20-year-old Californian who joined Taleban fighters in Afghanistan last year, met bin Laden several times while at a training camp for al Qaeda fighters where he learned to use explosives and a variety of weapons.

In a criminal complaint filed yesterday, charging Walker with aiding a terror group and conspiracy to kill Americans, the US Justice Department gave the most detailed version of Walker's alleged links to bin Laden and al Qaeda.

The charges spare him from facing the death penalty.

The Justice Department complaint, based on interviews with Walker after he was captured in Afghanistan in December, spells out a trajectory that began when the American converted to Islam in 1997.

It said Walker stayed with al Qaeda despite knowing that bin Laden ordered the attacks that killed thousands of people. He even expected additional attacks to follow.

Attorney-General John Ashcroft announced the three charges against Walker, that carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Treason charges, which could bring the death penalty, would have been difficult to prove, but had not been ruled out, he said.

"Walker knowingly and purposely allied himself with certain terrorist organisations," Ashcroft said.

"He chose to embrace fanatics and his allegiance to those fanatics and terrorists never faltered, not even with the knowledge that they had murdered thousands of his countrymen."

Walker was charged with conspiracy to kill Americans overseas, providing support and resources to designated foreign terrorist organisations, including al Qaeda, and engaging in prohibited transactions with the Taleban.

People in the US have been debating whether Walker should be charged with treason.

His parents, Frank Lindh and Marilyn Walker, have attempted to portray their son, who converted to Islam at the age of 16, as a misguided idealist.

"We are heartened by news reports that John will soon be coming home. We are anxious to see him, to know his condition first hand, and to tell him we love him," they said.

"We are disappointed that the Government has held and interrogated John for 45 days without allowing him any messages from his family or access to his attorney."

George Harris, a San Francisco lawyer hired by the family, said Walker had not been given an opportunity to speak with a lawyer.

US officials said Walker had waived his right to remain silent or have a lawyer present during questioning.

Walker's fighting training began in Pakistan last May, the Justice Department complaint said, when he joined a paramilitary training camp run by the Harakat ul-Mujahideen, one of a dozen groups fighting India's rule in Kashmir.

Walker was offered a choice of further training in Pakistan or fighting with the Taleban in Afghanistan.

He chose the Taleban and in late May reported to a recruiting centre in Kabul where he "told them that he was a Muslim who wanted to go to the front lines to fight".

Because of his lack of language skills, Walker was assigned to bin Laden's al Qaeda group and ordered to attend the al-Farooq al Qaeda training camp.

"Walker ... stated that he knew at the time that bin Laden and al Qaeda were 'against America and the Government of Saudi Arabia' and that al Qaeda's purpose was to fight Americans," the complaint said.

And at that training camp, Walker apparently learned of possible attacks on the US. "Within the first several weeks of his arrival there, in or about early June 2001, Walker learned from one of his instructors that bin Laden had sent people to the US to carry out several suicide operations."

But he stayed on for a seven-week course which included training in weapons, orienteering, navigation, explosives and battlefield combat.

Walker told US officials that bin Laden visited the camp three to five times and gave lectures. Walker and four other trainees met bin Laden, who thanked them for taking part in jihad (holy war), the complaint said.

Once his training was completed Walker was given several options which included travelling outside Afghanistan to conduct operations against the US and Israeli targets. Instead, Walker decided to go to the front lines to fight the Northern Alliance.

It was then that the suicide hijackers slammed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Walker said he heard of the attacks by radio shortly after.

"According to Walker, it was his and his comrades' understanding at the time that bin Laden had ordered the attacks and that additional attacks would follow," the complaint said.

After September 11, Walker said, all of bin Laden's training camps were closed with everyone sent to the front lines to protect bin Laden and defend against possible US attacks.

Walker will not be tried by a military tribunal. President George W. Bush has said military tribunals will be used against only foreign nationals and not American citizens.

Bush's top lieutenants reached a consensus 10 days ago about Walker's fate, and Bush agreed.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Ashcroft called White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card as Card flew back from New Orleans with Bush to tell him he was ready to go public with the charges.

Card told Bush and "the President told him to proceed", Fleischer said.

It marked the second major case brought in the US since the September 11 attacks.

In the first charges brought last month, Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, was indicted for conspiring with bin Laden, the 19 hijackers and others to murder thousands of people.

His trial is scheduled for October.

Walker is being held aboard the US Navy warship Bataan in the Arabian Sea.

- REUTERS

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