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Family and Friends on American Taliban
With additional reporting by Sahar Kassaimah
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 12 (IslamOnline & News agencies)- Friends and family members of John Walker Lindh expressed shock and confusion as they found out that their son was among the last Taliban fighters captured after the bloody prison uprising at a fortress near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
U.S. officials say he is one of three prisoners believed to be Americans among pro-Taliban soldiers who took part in the revolt, which claimed the life of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative.
Heavily-bearded, dirty, with a bullet wound in the leg, the wounded 20-year-old Lindh - calling himself Abdul Hamid - was treated and turned over to U.S. Special Forces somewhere in Afghanistan, said a U.S. military officials at Central Command in Tampa, Florida.
Lindh's family did not know he was in Afghanistan until they saw video of him as a captive. He had not been in contact with his family since May, his father, Frank Lindh, said. He told them that he was going to go up to the mountains of Pakistan and spend the summer because of the heat in Bannu during the summer. "And with my blessing, he did leave," said the father.
"In Islam, they have a very strict commandment that you obey your mother and father - you don't disobey a direct instruction," the elder Lindh said. "John purposely did not get in touch to ask for my blessing to go to Afghanistan because he knew that I would not consent to that."
The younger Lindh converted to Islam at 16, and after taking a high school equivalency test, left to study Arabic in Yemen. He then went to Pakistan to study at an Islamic school.
"Until John disappeared on us, so to speak, on the first of May, I had nothing to see there other than a kid who, a boy really, who had converted to a religion that I respect and that seemed very healthy and good for him," said his father.
"He was very devoted to it, devoted to the intellectual study and the study of Arabic, the memorization of the Qur'an, even by Islamic standards I think John is an outstanding student, a really devoted student, who ultimately wanted to attend the University at Medina, in Saudi Arabia," added Lindh. "And I supported that, I thought that was a noble thing, and I was proud of John for pursuing that alternative course. Different, certainly, from where I grew up."
John Lindh said this past weekend he joined the forces aligned with Osama bin Laden as a volunteer because his "heart became attached to them" after studying their movement.
The elder Lindh called his son "a sweet kid" who was very devoted and committed to his conversion to Islam. He said that he was always the same kid to him and that he had the same family relations with his sister and his brother.
"I don't know of any information, any suggestion, any information indicating that he has done anything wrong," Lindh said. "And therefore I hope John can be debriefed by the government and come on home."
When his son still had not made contact after the deadly September 11 attacks, Lindh said, "My anxiety went sky-high."
His father declared that the family had no idea where Lindh was. He also said the family is very troubled and very concerned for his son's welfare and that are so anxious to see him as soon as possible.
"We want to give him a big hug," said the older Lindh. "I also want to maybe give him a little kick in the butt for not telling me what he was up to, and for not getting my permission, because I would not have given him permission to go to Afghanistan."
The younger Lindh has been quoted as saying that he supported and supports the attacks of September 11. When asked about this statement, Lindh said that he does not think his son's mind was working straight at this moment, after being pulled out of the basement of a prison where he went through that horrible ordeal. "I just ask that people have a little mercy and think about what he went through before he made that statement."
Bill Jones, a family friend in San Rafael, California, described John Walker Lindh as young and impressionable, saying a spiritual quest, not a mission of violence, had brought him to the Taliban.
"None of us can see John as a warrior," Jones stressed. "I don't think he made a decision as a clear-thinking American adult. He had no Western news brought to him. He had no cell phone, no computer, nothing. He was isolated. As far as we're concerned, he's a victim of the Taliban."
Andrew Cleverdon, 19, grew up with him in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and remembers a kid who used to play football and with G.I. Joe action figures. But he said Lind seemed to have no particular fascination with the military.
"I would hate to be in his shoes right now," Cleverdon told news agencies. "I was a little shocked."
Neighbors said they had watched as the young man - whom they described as a thin, academic-looking boy - slowly change as he entered high school. One neighbor said the younger Lindh began growing a beard and wearing traditional Islamic robes and a turban.
Marcie Miller, principal of Temescal High School in Larkspur, California, said Monday that John Lindh participated in a program for highly motivated students in 1997. Miller said the student requested that his name be listed as "Suleyman Al-Lindh" on a certificate for passing the California High School Proficiency exam.
Ebrahim Nana, a director at the Islamic center of Mill Valley in San Francisco, where Lindh used to go, said he first met Walker in late 1997 at prayer meetings. He noticed something different about the resolute young man.
"Most people come here with questions, they're curious," said Nana, "but he came and said right away that he had done his independent study and was ready to accept Islam right then and there. That really struck me as unusual."
Within weeks, Lindh was attending regular prayer meetings at the center. One member bought him a traditional Islamic robe, and a turban, which he always wore. He made friends with other teens at the center.
"He was shy but dedicated," said Abdullah Nana, Ebrahim's son, who befriended Lindh. "Here was this young white kid from the suburbs who was very dedicated and who wore the traditional clothing, doing even more than some of the other kids whose parents were Muslim."
Abdullah Nana said he doesn't recall that the younger Lindh ever talked about jihad, or professed violence. He said he last saw Lindh two years ago when the young man returned from Yemen.
After his capture, Lindh told reporters that he has been in Afghanistan for six months, speaking only Arabic. He described himself as a convert to Islam and a "jihadi". Lindh said he trained and fought with the Arab-speaking Taliban fighters, supported and funded by bin Laden.
"The ideas of the Taliban occupied my mind a lot," the younger Lindh was quoted as saying. "The Taliban are the only government that actually provides Islamic law."
Lindh said he had been hiding in the fortress' basement for seven days and had not eaten. When the U.S. bombardment began, Lindh said that he fled 100 miles on foot to Kunduz, where he was one of more than 3,000 Taliban soldiers taken prisoner in the garrison.
He said he intended to surrender but was drawn into battle when one of his comrades threw a grenade. After taking a bullet in his upper-right thigh, he fled to the basement bunker, where he and dozens of other Taliban remained for seven days.
Lindh was among three truckloads of prisoners - most of them wounded or dead - who had emerged or been taken from the basement. U.S. Special Forces soldiers took Lindh to a warm place and assisted in getting him medical treatment.
The family "fully understands" he could be tried for treason, Jones said.
Lindh's father said that his son used bad judgment in supporting the Taliban, but he "is not a traitor."
"John was there before the United States got involved, and he got caught up in something shouldn't have been caught up in," the older Lindh said. "But he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't go to make war against his own country."
Asked whether he considered the younger Lindh a traitor, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had drawn no conclusions.
"He is in control of U.S. military forces. It appears he is injured or sustained some injuries and is receiving medical attention," said Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem at Wednesday's Pentagon briefing. "In terms of his disposition, that has not yet been determined."
Lindh's family has hired James J. Brosnahan, a highly regarded San Francisco trial lawyer, to represent their son.
"We have asked our government for safe passage for John's parents and me to visit with John as soon as possible," Brosnahan said Tuesday. "We also asked that no charges be filed against John until we have had an opportunity to speak with the United States government."
Brosnahan, 67, is an active Democrat who contributed to the campaigns of former U.S. president Bill Clinton and other candidates.
U.S. President George W. Bush called the younger Lindh a "poor fellow" who had been "misled". Rumsfeld, on the other hand, coolly stated, "We found a person who says he's an American with an AK-47 in a prison with a bunch of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. He will have all the rights he is due."
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