'American Taliban' to be Moved for Trial

Jan. 21 -- John Walker Lindh, the young American found fighting alongside al Qaeda troops, will likely be flown Tuesday from a U.S. Navy ship in the Arabian Sea to face trial in United States, U.S. officials said today.

He will face criminal prosecution on charges of conspiring to kill his fellow countrymen at a federal district court in northern Virginia. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

A Frenchman, Zacarias Moussaoui, is also awaiting trial for alleged complicity in the Sept. 11 terror attacks there. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Lindh would arrive "sometime in the days ahead."

The 20-year-old Californian has been held on the amphibious attack ship USS Bataan since he was found among the prisoners who staged a bloody uprising near the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, in which CIA operative Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed.

He will be the last prisoner to leave the Bataan, which was initially used to confine higher-level Taliban and al Qaeda suspects.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Lindh would likely make a first stop at the U.S. base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, where still more Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners are being held, before continuing on to his final destination.

Because Lindh is a U.S. citizen, he will not be taken to the U.S. naval base in Cuba with other prisoners.

Concern Over Detainees Continues

On Tuesday, civil rights advocates are expected to present a petition to a federal judge in Los Angeles, challenging the detention of terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.

The petitioners are demanding that the U.S. government bring the approximately 110 suspects held in Cuba before a court and define the charges against them.

They also say the suspects are being held in violation of the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Constitution.

The petitioners will be represented by Stephen Yagman, an attorney known for representing plaintiffs in police abuse cases.