US: The "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh (20) was returning to US soil last night on a flight to Dulles Airport outside Washington DC.
Although the Pentagon was refusing officially to confirm flight arrangements, media outlets were confidently predicting the return of Walker to face charges in Virginia's US District Court in Alexandria, just south of Washington. He is likely to be detained with other terrorist suspects in the county detention facility.
Because of his US citizenship there was never any intention to take him to Guantanamo, most of whose detainees will probably face trial before military tribunals or courts martial for those deemed prisoners of war.
Walker faces four charges, carrying a potential life sentence: conspiracy to kill US military abroad, two charges of providing material support to terrorists and one of providing goods and services to the Taliban.
Walker is expected to be reunited with his family for the first time today, and may face a brief court remand hearing at which he will be offered legal counsel.
To date he has declined to take legal advice but is certain to face considerable pressure from his family to do so. They are understood to be concerned that confessions made under interrogation should not be admissible at trial, insisting that he has been under stress and medication for his wounds, and unable, therefore, to give real consent to the waiving of his rights.
Walker's indictment alleges he trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. He was captured in November in the siege of Kunduz and survived a prison uprising near Mazar-e-Sharif. The Justice Department claims he stayed with Al-Qaeda despite knowing that Osama bin Laden, whom he met, ordered the September 11th attacks and said he even expected additional attacks to follow.
Also facing trial in Alexandria is Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, on charges of complicity in the September 11th attacks.
Meanwhile the US has temporarily suspended flights of other detainees to Guantanamo because of a shortage of accommodation. More of the temporary open-air cells are being constructed and flights are expected to resume next week, one Pentagon official told Reuters, denying a link with criticism of the prisoners' treatment.
Meanwhile, six anti-Taliban militiamen have been brought to the US to the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre for treatment of injuries they got when a US bomb went astray last month near Kandahar. Three US soldiers and six Afghans were killed and 19 Americans were wounded in the air strike.
Miriam Donohoe reports from Beijing:
The Afghan interim government last night backed up Chinese claims that Muslim extremists from the north-west Xinjiang province had connections with al-Qaeda groups. The Afghan Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Abdullah, told a briefing in Beijing "there was no doubt" terrorists groups from Xinjiang were operating in Afghanistan under the command of al-Qaeda.
He was speaking after the Afghan leader, Mr Hamid Karzai, met the Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji.
