Judge orders Lindh held pending trial

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A federal judge ordered John Walker Lindh held in custody pending trial on Wednesday as prosecutors revealed e-mails they said showed the U.S.-born Taliban felt clear "hostility toward his country."

Magistrate Judge W. Curtis Sewell denied bail after concluding that the 20-year-old Lindh "has every incentive to flee" and posed a danger to society.

Ruling from the bench rather than taking time to deliberate, Sewell rejected Lindh's request to be released in the custody of his parents -- who had pleaded in vain for their son to return home from overseas.

The government and defense used the hearing in federal court here to present widely divergent portrayals of the young Californian who left home and turned his life to Islam.

"He is not a dangerous person," lead defense lawyer James Brosnahan said of his client. "He never had anything to do with terrorist activities."

Brosnahan said Lindh fought with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban against the opposition northern alliance, not knowing that would eventually put him against fellow Americans.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows countered, "Our view is that John Lindh is a committed terrorist who not only talked the talk but walked the walk."

The government also responded to Brosnahan with a written motion that cited Lindh's e-mails and letters, providing far more details about the prosecution's case.

Lindh, who will be arraigned Monday, was charged this week in a 10-count indictment that accuses him of conspiring to kill Americans and aiding terrorists.

"I don't really want to see America again," Lindh said in a Feb. 8, 2001, e-mail to his mother, Marilyn.

Perplexed by remarks

In other writings, Lindh said the U.S. government probably bombed its own embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; asked "What has America ever done for anybody?" and contended the United States incited the Gulf War.

Following an e-mail he sent to his family after the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 in Yemen, Lindh's father, Frank, appeared perplexed at his son's remarks.

"I confess I was taken aback somewhat by your lack of compassion for the Americans, who after all are only young people your own age who happened to have taken a job that involved being on a Navy ship," Frank Lindh wrote.

John Walker Lindh, who first appeared in a courtroom Jan. 24, wore the same green jumpsuit with the word "prisoner" on the back. Lindh often glanced toward Brosnahan as the attorney addressed the judge. He was not required to speak and did not do so.

Sewell didn't accept the defense argument for release, concluding that "no combination of conditions" could permit Lindh's release. He scoffed at the notion that there was nothing dangerous about him.

"It may be argued by the defense that the defendant is a loyal American, but the evidence before the court belies that assumption," the judge said.

"These are not family ties" that should lead to release, he said.

Lindh's parents were in the courtroom but did not speak with reporters.