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Captured US Taliban fighter held at marine camp in Afghanistan
An American captured fighting with the Taliban in Northern Afghanistan is being held as a battlefield detainee at a US marine base in the south of the country, officers said on Sunday.
An American captured fighting with the Taliban in Northern Afghanistan is being held as a battlefield detainee at a US marine base in the south of the country, officers said on Sunday.
John Walker is a battlefield detainee. He is being held here pending disposition instructions from higher headquarters, according to a statement from the marines that replaced an earlier one.
Captain David T Romley said in the previous statement that John Walker Lindh was being detained at forward operating base Rhino for his own protection and will be transferred to US civilian authorities as soon as possible.
No explanation was given for the change in wording but it appeared to be linked to the legal challenges walker could face under US law and the Geneva Convention regarding treatment of Prisoners of War. The marines declined to say when walker arrived at this base south of the city of Kandahar, the former Taliban stronghold which the militia surrendered Friday to US-allied Afghan opposition forces.
He could neither be seen nor interviewed by journalists at this desert camp.
John Walker Lindh, 20, was handed over to US forces in northern Afghanistan after emerging December 1 from a week of fierce fighting between Taliban prisoners and Northern Alliance forces at a prison fortress near the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Bureau Report
Captain David T Romley said in the previous statement that John Walker Lindh was being detained at forward operating base Rhino for his own protection and will be transferred to US civilian authorities as soon as possible.
No explanation was given for the change in wording but it appeared to be linked to the legal challenges walker could face under US law and the Geneva Convention regarding treatment of Prisoners of War. The marines declined to say when walker arrived at this base south of the city of Kandahar, the former Taliban stronghold which the militia surrendered Friday to US-allied Afghan opposition forces.
He could neither be seen nor interviewed by journalists at this desert camp.
John Walker Lindh, 20, was handed over to US forces in northern Afghanistan after emerging December 1 from a week of fierce fighting between Taliban prisoners and Northern Alliance forces at a prison fortress near the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Bureau Report