US Taliban fighter to walk free after nearly 20 years

JOHN Walker Lindh (right), the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by US forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to be freed after almost two decades in prison.

But conditions imposed on Lindh’s release make clear that authorities remain concerned about the threat he could pose.

Lindh, now 38, converted to Islam as a teenager after seeing the film Malcolm X and went overseas to study Arabic and the Koran.

In November 2000, he went to Pakistan, and from there made his way to Afghanistan. He joined the Taliban and was with them on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The US attacked Afghanistan after the country failed to turn over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Lindh was captured in a battle with Northern Alliance fighters in late 2001.

Television footage of a bearded, wounded Lindh captured among Taliban fighters created an international sensation, and he was brought to the US to face charges of conspiring to kill a CIA officer who had been interrogating Taliban prisoners, and providing support to terrorists.

Eventually, he struck a plea bargain in which he admitted illegally providing support to the Taliban but denied a role in the death of the CIA operative.