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Lawyer: Lindh ready to talk

John Walker Lindh

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- John Walker Lindh will cooperate with U.S. intelligence officials as part of the guilty plea he entered last week for aiding the Taliban, but he has little to offer them, his lawyer said Sunday.

"John has already helped them as much as he could," defense attorney James Brosnahan told CNN's "Late Edition."

"The fact is, he doesn't know a whole lot, but he will cooperate with them fully. If he can save American lives, he will do it."

Walker Lindh, 21, pleaded guilty Monday to aiding the Taliban and possessing explosives in carrying out a crime. Sentencing is set for October 4 before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia. He is expected to receive 20 years.

A member of a middle class family in the San Francisco, California, area, he was a teen-age convert to Islam who joined the Taliban while studying in Pakistan.

He was among several hundred Taliban prisoners who surrendered in early December at Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan. He was wounded in a bloody uprising among the prisoners a few days later.

RESOURCES • Plea agreement: U.S. v. Walker Lindh  • Statement of facts  • Criminal information: Criminal counts to which Lindh is pleading guilty  (FindLaw documents, PDF format)   EXTRA INFORMATION • Gallery: Reactions to Walker Lindh plea  • Timeline: The John Walker Lindh case  • People in the News: John Walker Lindh profile  • Transcript of Pelton's interview with John Walker Lindh      LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

U.S. military interrogators in Afghanistan questioned Walker Lindh after his capture, and Brosnahan said he is unlikely to have much to add beyond the fact he once met al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"Being a soldier in the Taliban army up in the district of Takhar doesn't let you in on much really valuable information, but he will certainly try to help," Brosnahan said.

In exchange for Walker Lindh's guilty plea, the Justice Department agreed to drop nine more serious counts, including conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and providing material support to terrorist organizations.

White House officials said President Bush personally approved the plea agreement, which forbids Lindh to again associate with terrorists after his release.

Brosnahan, who speculated that Walker Lindh could be released for good behavior after 17 years, said the deal includes a provision allowing Lindh to travel overseas afterward, allowing him to attend the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

"Every Muslim, as I understand it, should do their Hajj once in their lifetime, and John wished to do that," Brosnahan said.

"The government understood that, and we entered into terms which would allow him to do that. It's purely a religious matter."