Lindh said Islam did not mean terrorism

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, October 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A U.S. court Friday, October 4, jailed "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh for 20 years for being a warrior for the Muslim regime in Afghanistan, brought down by the U.S.-led military campaign after last year's September 11 attacks.  

The 21-year-old convert to Islam was imprisoned after tearfully expressing remorse to the court and insisting "I did not go to fight against America."  

Judge T.S. Ellis accepted an agreement under which Lindh pleaded guilty in return for the 20-year sentence and helping the U.S. investigation of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, (allegedly) responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).  

Lindh, one of many bedraggled Taliban fighters captured in Afghanistan last November, was also ordered to serve six years of probation after the prison term.  

He pleaded guilty to one charge of helping the Taliban and one of carrying an assault rifle and grenades while fighting with the regime forced out of Kabul last October by Afghan opposition forces.  

Dressed in green prison overalls and his eyes red with tears, Lindh spent 20 minutes reading a dramatic statement explaining why he went to Afghanistan "as a soldier with the Taliban in its conflict with the Northern Alliance."  

In the statement, Lindh explained that after studying Arabic in Yemen and the Koran in an Islamic school in Pakistan, he volunteered as a foot soldier to fight the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, arrived on the front lines in September 2001.

"I believed it was my religious duty to assist my fellow Muslims militarily in their jihad against the Northern Alliance," Lindh said.  

In Islamic terminology, according to Lindh, "jihad refers to the spending of one's utmost exertion in the service of God."  

But he clarified: "I have never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism or terrorism. I condemn terrorism on every level - unequivocally. My beliefs about jihad are those of mainstream Muslims around the world."  

Lindh said he heard of "numerous atrocities committed by the Northern Alliance against civilians," including "reports of massacres, child rape, torture and castration," and said he saw the war with the Northern Alliance "as a continuation of the war between the Mujahideen (Muslim freedom fighters) and the Soviets," adding: "I knew that the Mujahideen had been supported by the United States."  

Defense attorney for Lindh James Brosnahan

"I went to Afghanistan because I believed there was no way to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people aside from military action. I did not go to fight against America, and I never did," he said.  

Lindh said that his life in Afghanistan was limited to military life.  

"In retrospect, I had no real exposure to the life of civilians under the rule of the Taliban," he said. He has since learned more about them, "such as reports of the Taliban's repression of women, which I did not see or hear of while I was in Afghanistan, and which I believe is strongly condemned by Islam."  

"I have also become aware of the relationship between the leaders of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's organization," Lindh said. "Bin Laden's terrorist attacks are completely against Islam, completely contrary to the conventions of jihad and without any justification whatsoever."  

Bin Laden's "grievances, whatever they may be, cannot be addressed by acts of injustice and violence against innocent people in America. Terrorism is never justified and has proved extremely damaging to Muslims around the world. I have never supported terrorism in any form and never would."  

Lindh emphasized: "I went to Afghanistan with the intention of fighting against terrorism and oppression, not to support it."  

"I made a mistake by joining the Taliban," Lindh said. "Had I realized then what I know now about the Taliban, I would never have joined them."  

Lindh said his ambition remains to one day teach, write and translate Arabic texts into English. "I hope to use this knowledge to serve Islam and the interests of Muslims in America and around the world to the full extent of my capability," he said.

In a separate related story, U.S. Attorney-General Ashcroft said Friday, October 5, that five of the six charged with al-Qaeda connections were U.S. citizens and one received U.S. military training, reported BBC’s online news service.

He said: "Portland and Detroit joint terrorism task forces arrested suspected terrorist cell members charged in engaging in a conspiracy to join al-Qaeda and to join Taliban forces fighting against the United States and allied soldiers in Afghanistan".

The men have been charged with conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support for foreign terror groups, conspiracy to contribute services to al-Qaeda and the Taliban and possession of firearms.

"If convicted of these crimes, these defendants will face up to life in prison," Ashcroft said.

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