Mike Pompeo strongly responds against release of American Taliban
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WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced as “unexplainable and unconscionable” Thursday the early release from prison of John Walker Lindh, the so-called “American Taliban” captured while fighting in Afghanistan.
“He still, as I understand it, still is threatening the United States of America and still committed to the very jihad that he engaged in that killed a great American and a great officer,” Pompeo said on Fox News.
Lindh, who was fighting for the Taliban when he was captured in November 2001, was released early Thursday after serving 17 years of a 20 year prison sentence, US media reported.
After his capture, Lindh was interrogated by a CIA officer, Johnny Michael Spann, in the same Afghan prison where hours later Spann was killed in a Taliban revolt.
Lindh, who was not charged with Spann’s death, pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban and carrying an explosive. -APP/AFP
