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U.S. Taliban fighter to remain in jail

An artist's sketch of John Walker Lindh in federal court Wednesday

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- A federal magistrate denied bond Wednesday for John Walker Lindh, the 20-year-old Californian accused of fighting with the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

A grand jury Tuesday indicted Walker Lindh on 10 counts. His attorneys had asked that he be released on bond pending trial. U.S. Magistrate W. Curtis Sewell rejected the plea, however, saying Walker Lindh represents a risk of flight and a danger to the community.

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

Walker Lindh's formal arraignment is set for Monday.

In court, defense attorney Jim Brosnahan argued that his client is "loyal to the United States and to his family" and said that "he never fought with al Qaeda, never signed up for and never had anything to do with terrorism."

Brosnahan also maintained that Walker Lindh fought only against the Northern Alliance before the United States aided the group against the Taliban.

But prosecutor Randy Bellows strongly disputed that contention.

"John Walker Lindh is a committed terrorist," Bellows said. "He not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk, carrying hand grenades and firearms and referring to his al Qaeda brothers."

Grand jury count crucial to ruling

VIDEO A U.S. grand jury has indicted John Walker Lindh on 10 counts. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports (February 6) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES People in the News: John Walker Lindh    INTERACTIVE Bond hearing arguments    RESOURCES • Read the indictment: U.S. v. Walker Lindh (FindLaw) • Transcript: Ashcroft news conference (February 5) • Timeline: John Walker Lindh    EXTRA INFORMATION Charges against John Walker Lindh:  • Conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals   • Conspiracy to provide material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations   • Providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations   • Conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda   • Providing material support and resources to al Qaeda   • Conspiracy to contribute services to al Qaeda   • Contributing services to al Qaeda   • Conspiracy to supply services to the Taliban   • Supplying services to the Taliban   • Using, carrying and possessing firearms and destructive devices during crimes of violence

In court documents, prosecutors have said Lindh remained with his fighting group after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, "despite having been told that (al Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden had ordered the attacks, that additional attacks were planned, and that additional al Qaeda personnel were being sent from the training camps to the front lines to ... defend against an anticipated military response from the United States."

Even after learning "that United States military forces and United States nationals had become directly engaged in support of the Northern Alliance," Walker Lindh remained with his fighting group until it surrendered to the Northern Alliance in late November, the documents said.

A key to Sewell's decision was the 10th count in the grand jury's indictment. That charge, of "using and carrying a firearm and destructive device during crimes of violence," is the one count that argues in favor of the government's effort to detain the defendant, Sewell said.

Sewell also rejected the defense argument that if released, Walker Lindh would have a stable and supportive family and therefore would not flee.

"I find (the defendant) has no social or economic stability, only a three-week stint of warehouse work some years ago ... (and) had been out of the country from February 2000 until January 23 when he was brought here and (had) virtually no contact with his parents for two years.

"These are not the family ties that can rebut the presumption in favor of the government," Sewell said.

Defense attorneys contend that when Walker Lindh was interviewed by FBI agents a few days later, he was coerced into making statements that "he wanted to be a martyr" and that the Pentagon and the USS Cole were "good targets" for terrorist attacks.

But the government documents contend he had previously made the same statements to his Northern Alliance captors.

In contrast to the defense argument that Walker Lindh was loyal to the United States, the government cited e-mails allegedly written by Walker Lindh to his mother in 2000 in which he said he was glad George W. Bush was not his president and he did not understand what his mother's "big attachment to America was all about."

"What has America done for anybody?" he wrote in February 2000.

Magistrate: Ashcroft opinion immaterial

Walker Lindh did not speak during the nearly hour-long hearing before a courtroom packed with media and spectators. He sat quietly between his two defense attorneys, dressed in a green jumpsuit with the word "Prisoner" across the back.

He was not handcuffed or shackled. The now short-haired, clean-shaven young man bears little resemblance to the one seen on video taken as he was pulled from a wrecked prison in northern Afghanistan.

Sewell blocked the defense attorney's attempt to object to Attorney General John Ashcroft's characterization of his client Tuesday as a dangerous terrorist, saying Ashcroft's opinion did not matter.

"The attorney general may have said that," Sewell said, "but the only thing that matters in this courtroom is my opinion."

Outside the courtroom, however, Brosnahan "respectfully" asked Ashcroft to "refrain from further comment on the case," saying he had used inappropriate language that violated Justice Department standards and standards of decorum followed by "all prosecutors."

"I'd think the American people probably want the attorney general to focus on those people who really did the harm to this nation ... and not take it out on John Lindh," he said, "because in my view ... they have brought up the cannon to shoot the mouse."