It's not John Walker who's on trial; it's America itself!

US prosecutors have brought charges against “the American Taliban” John Walker. He is being prosecuted on ten charges, including charges that entail a life imprisonment, US Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

The “American Taliban” is accused participation in a plot with the purpose of murdering his countrymen, as well assisting Al Qaeda, bin Laden’s terrorist organization. Unlike his accomplices, John Walker is being tried by a civil court, not a military tribunal.

Walker, who named himself Abdul Khamid, coverted to Islam at the age of sixteen. He was trained at one of the military camps in Kashmir. John Walker was detained near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif during a bloody uprising by the Taliban. According to information from the CIA, Walker admitted that he knew about the preparation of the terrorist attacks on the USA beforehand, and that bin Laden thanked him for his assistance personally.

It has been published already that John Walker rejected the services of an attorney, but at the very last moment, he changed his mind and allowed defence lawyers to help him. Unfortunately, the trial will be closed. It would be interesting to know the revelations of the young man to understand the events that have happened. Thus, the trial is to become a so-called litmus paper for the whole of the American society.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

In the photo: John Walker

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/02/06/36662.html