The father of American-born Taliban solider, John Walker Lindh, who is serving 20 years in prison, is petitioning for his son to be granted Irish citizenship. It is likely he will seek to settle there on his release.
Frank Lindh also belives that the Irish government could question his son’s treatment by American authorities if he was an Irish citizen.
When John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan he told the soldiers he was Irish to try and disguise his US citizenship. His preferred name is now Abu Sulayman al-Irlandi (the Irlandi title refers to Lindh's claim to be Irish).
The young man’s father, who is Irish American, spoke to Newstalk radio about his son and his plan to get Irish citizenship. Frank Lindh’s mother is from Donegal.
Walker Lindh and his father visited Ireland in 1998 (see photo above) at the time “he found Irish people to be open and accepting,” according to a Broadsheet.ie report.
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Read more:
More news from Ireland on IrishCentral
Obama’s Irish cousin wants out of jury duty to meet US president
Senator Scott Brown says Irish E3 immigrant visa bill is “about to pop”
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In his interview on Newstalk radio in Ireland Lindh’s father stated that
• He believes his son will be released from his 20 yrs sentence in 7 yrs on parole.
• He hopes his son could live in Ireland when he gets out of prison.
• He says his son will not be safe in America. That's why he hopes his son might be able to live in Ireland.
• He thinks many in America believe his son was involved in 9/11. He says that statements by Pres Bush & others have marked John out as a terrorist.
• He is working on getting Irish passports for all three of his kids.
• He expects no issue getting Irish citizenship for JWL
• He figures Irish govt should support him because of human rights issue in John's case.
Last year, Lindh spoke at the University of San Francisco, School of Law and told of how his son was handling prison nearly a decade after being captured. In 2002, his son pleaded guilty to supplying the Taliban government and carrying explosives for them. He was charged with conspiring to kill Americans and support terrorists. Those charges were dropped in a plea agreement.
Walker Lindh met Osama Bin Laden when he visited his training camp.
The New England Review reported that, speaking in San Francisco, Lindh said his son is dealing well with incarceration. Although he was sentenced to 20 years, it is thought that he’ll be out sooner.
He said, “He's a very calm and centered person…He's very spiritual. He does his daily prayers. He's an observant Muslim. We talk heart to heart a lot."
Lindh has been running a campaign to clear his son’s name. He maintains that Walker Lindh was falsely accused and claims that the media wrongly named him a terrorist.
He said his son was serving with the Taliban in order to protect civilians who were being victimized by the Northern Alliance.
Currently, Walker Lindh is being held in a special unit of a Terre Haute Indiana federal prison, which holds mostly Muslim inmates. Their communication with the outside world is limited.
At first, Walker Lindh was held in a SuperMax prison for a year. His father said he remembers his son being brought to see him in chains. However, now Walker Lindh can leave his cell and socialize with his fellow inmates.
Speaking at the Commonwealth Club in California for the first time since his son was captured in 2006, Frank Lindh spelt out his son’s story.
Lindh said, “This is the story of a decent and honorable young man, embarked on a spiritual quest, who became the focus of the grief and anger of an entire nation,” according to AlterNet.
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Read more:
More news from Ireland on IrishCentral
John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, seeks Irish citizenship
Senator Scott Brown says Irish E3 immigrant visa bill is “about to pop”
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The father explained that Walker Lindh has first become interested in Islam in 1993, and eventually converted when he was 16. His father said, “I thought he had always been a Muslim, and he simply had to find it for himself.”
At the age of 17 he travelled to Yemen where he studied Arabic. In 2000 he made the decision to travel to Pakistan to continue his study of Islam, memorizing the Koran with the aim of becoming a Muslim scholar.
In April 2001, he wrote to his father to tell him he was going into the mountains to get away from the heat. Lindh said, “What he didn't tell us, what we didn't learn until later, was that John was going over the mountains, into Afghanistan, intent on volunteering for military service in the army of Afghanistan.”
He continued, “John received infantry training at a government-run military training camp. But the training camp was funded by Osama bin Laden…John actually saw Osama bin Laden and met him on one occasion. He came away from those encounters very skeptical about bin Laden because John recognized instantly that bin Laden was not an authentic Islamic scholar based on what John himself knows.”
John Walker Lindh was captured in Takhar province in late November 2001.
John was spotted and removed from the body of prisoners for questioning. The moment was recorded on video and later seen by millions on television.
In the video, Lindh sits mutely on the ground as he is questioned about his nationality by a CIA agent Mike Spann later killed by the Taliban.
"Irish? Ireland?" Spann asks.
Walker remains silent.
As shown on British Channel 4 news, Spann then asks Lindh, "Are you a member of the IRA?
"Who brought you here?… You believe in what you are doing that much, you're willing to be killed here?" Spann asks.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.merefalow | Apr 26, 2012, 06:54 PM EDT
i would be very carefull about giving sanctuary to a person who supported a form of government who encouraged female genital circumcision,denied the rights of women,had no conception of democracy,and betrayed his own countrymen,sounds like a religious nut to me,should feel quite at home in ireland.
merefalow | Feb 12, 2012, 04:21 PM EST
brill.bring the whole bloody tribe over,shites,sunny,s,binliners,alibaba and the 40 thieves,.
gobdawpaddy | Feb 12, 2012, 06:49 AM EST
'Im sure youre benefiting just as much from our low corporate tax rate as much as your employees are from a wage'. Absolutely Ciara, that's how commerce works. Would you prefer that I relocate to eastern europe where my salary costs would be much lower etc. Ireland's corporate tax rate is indeed very attractive but why the resentment at those who use it to their benefit, employing Irish workers in the process?
seanomelb | Feb 12, 2012, 12:55 AM EST
exactly Ciara that's what makes us Irish with DNA going back way beyond the 1000yrs old country of your imagination.
ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 05:12 PM EST
Just like we didnt suddenly appear in Ireland as a completely homogenous race of people! So the language IS something that evolved over a hell of a lot of years via various cultural interactions?
seanomelb | Feb 11, 2012, 04:53 PM EST
Like your 1000yr old Ireland ciara you are not going back far enough in fact it can be traced back as far as India,it did'nt suddenly appear in Greece.
ciaradexy | Feb 11, 2012, 12:00 PM EST
Gobdaw, hooligan is American and I think he is just being sarcastic. Stop being so paranoid man! If you have a company or business here Im sure youre benefiting just as much from our low corporate tax rate as much as your employees are from a wage.
gobdawpaddy | Feb 11, 2012, 10:14 AM EST
Hooli, 02/09 4.46PM EST, 'we don't want any of those nasty Americans living in Ireland'. I hope Enda, Eamonn and Bill aren't reading this and they doing their best just 2 days ago to attract US investment into Ireland. I hope none of the dozen or so Americans working for me at our Irish location aren't reading this. Am I to take it that the Irish only want our dollars, but our people are not welcome? Perhaps if the climate is as you have expressed (ant-american), my American crew should pack their bags, shut down the operation and let our 117, well paid, Irish employees join the unemployment line?
gobdawpaddy | Feb 11, 2012, 09:48 AM EST
Wasn't it only a few years ago that Ireland's fianna fail led government were selling Irish passports. Some very dubious people got their hands on them including a brother of Osama Bin Laden, who had invested in Kerry airport.
Curitiba | Feb 11, 2012, 06:03 AM EST
Ha, ha, that's funny Ciara!
FLstormorphan | Feb 10, 2012, 10:47 PM EST
INNOCENT, Lindh is innocent. Cheney, Bush and Chertoff should be in prison for their wars of choice in Afghanistan and Iraq and crimes against humanity. The Bush administration violated Lindh’s constitutional rights by silencing him. Was Lindh silenced because of the massacre at Mazar-e-Sharif? What did he know, what did the Bush administration hide? Thousands of dead shot and killed in semi-tractor trailer trucks as they called out for air by American troops their blood running out of the trailers buried in a mass grave. There is an outstanding Irish documentary on the subject ‘Afghan Massacre’. Lindh was clearly in the wrong place at the wrong time. The U. S. military tortured him, denied medical care for his wounds and kept him naked in a freezing container. I hope he can find his freedom in Ireland away from American war criminals. American media labeled him ‘American Taliban’ the truth was never published until the documentary. Shame on my country for war crimes to benefit war profiteers and this injustice.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:45 PM EST
Ah family, cant live with them, cant kill them!
Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 06:34 PM EST
anyway, our co-ethnic Abu should be given Irish Citizenship, Like it or not, he is part of the Irish family. You can choose your friends, but not your family!
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:17 PM EST
It was 100% part of Irish culture to take babies away from their mothers just as it was to put these women into Magdelane laundries. As an adopted person, this is a part of a thankfully, long gone Irish culture that I hold very close to my heart.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 06:14 PM EST
Its not my interpretation, its true! Its all an adaptation! On your point re culture. My granny has told me in conversation that endemic child abuse was part of the culture here just like a preference for male children is part of the culture in certain parts of the world. In other parts of the world, bear bating, forced marriages and female circumcision is part of the culture so not all culture is cause for celebration.
Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 06:02 PM EST
Ciara, leaving aside the fact you have rewritten my post about the English language to suit your interpretation of the facts, with regard to the second part of you post, you are talking about criminality and unethical behaviour with regard to the Church, not culture. Culture is something to be celebrated, what you have described is not culture.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 05:54 PM EST
Curitiba, so the English language was formed from the adaptation and evolution of other languages which is pretty much how cultures come to exist and overtime they adapt and evolve some more. For example, Ireland was a god fearing country in the 50s and it was common for single women to have their babies taken from them. Priests abused children and others turned a blind eye to this because the church could do no wrong as far as they were concerned. This was part of my countries culture for a long time. Now, this has changed, people have evolved, started to think for themselves and no longer let the church run our lives. This is the evolution of a culture.This can only be a good thing.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 05:49 PM EST
Sean, the English alphabet uses the Latin alphabet which originated from the Greek alphabet!
seanomelb | Feb 10, 2012, 05:41 PM EST
OMG!! Ciara you've done it again the alphabet is from the Arabic not greek.That ethnic hole your in is getting deeper.
Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 05:34 PM EST
Yes, English is a Germanic language, that is not in dispute. What I am saying is that the ancestor of the modern language was imposed on the native British by the invading Anglo Saxons. As for Europe's Royal families, they are all very closely related as they intermarried a lot over the past 1000 years, so you could legitimately pick a King or Queen of Europe as they are all one large extended family across the Continent. However, each European country's population have not been nearly so mobile, which is why their identities remained intact for so long.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 05:21 PM EST
English is a Germanic language so it didnt even originate in England. The English alphabet evolved from the Greek alphabet so the English language for example is a result of integration of cultures and people. Even the quintessential English family, the Royals are a mix! On the issue of the Travellers, its not my theory, its a proven scientific fact. You should be able to get that programme I mentioned online.
Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 04:16 PM EST
No Ciara, I didn't say that. I said that the main body of modern day English people are Celtic in origin, but have been heavily influenced by comparatively small numbers of other groups such as the Anglo Saxons, who had little impact on their genetic make up, but had a disproportionate effect on the language, culture or both. Take the Normans, for instance, who basically enslaved the English for 300 years. They made up the entire nobility, while reducing the natives' status to that of powerless serfs. French was the language of power in England at that time, English was just some gibberish that the serfs spoke. However, because the Norman overlords cared so little for their subjects, they did not try any make them speak French, then the Black Death came which ended the feudal lords absolute power over the peasantry, which is why the English language survived. Again, being the ruling classes and being comparatively small in number, the Normans had little genetic effect on the English as they ruled over them, but did not really intermarry with them. As for the Travellers, that is the first time I have heard that theory of yours. I was always led to believe that they are no different to contemporary Irish people, except that as travelling tinkers, moving around the countryside a lot, they became separated from mainstream Irish society and started to associate more and more with each other until they formed a distinct group.
joycean | Feb 10, 2012, 02:18 PM EST
In the United Staes, we have two categories: race and ethnicity. Race is biological, genetic, and usually related to skin color: white (Caucasian), black (African), yellow (Asian), brown (Hispanic),red Indian). It is often asked on employment applications and other legal documents. Ethnicity refers to culture, language, beliefs, nationality. A person who says he is an "Irish-American" is stating ethnicity, not race.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 11:03 AM EST
Pittsburgh kid, you are a bigot through and through. No one decides to become gay you fool.
ciaradexy | Feb 10, 2012, 11:02 AM EST
Curitiba, the English are a mix of celts, Anglo saxons,norman french? If thats not a mongral nation, then I dont know what is! Irish people are a mix of all those things too! I have said on here before that people need to watch the programme 'Blood of the Travellers'. It categorically proves that the ''ethnic'' irish are the travellers. They rarely married outside their own communities hence a lot of the metabolic disorders we see in the Travelling community. We have the highest cases of haemachromatosis and CF in the world which proves there was a lot of 'inbreeding' over the years but we are not this 'pure blood ethnic' group people on here seem to think we are!
Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 02:20 AM EST
Thanks also Seanomelb
Curitiba | Feb 10, 2012, 02:17 AM EST
I'm happy to set the record straight, Oaklongan.
seanomelb | Feb 09, 2012, 07:23 PM EST
Ciara ethnicity was not mentioned by me or is it relevant and your "1000yr country" is so historically wrong it's amusing.Dublin is over 1000years old. The children of Irish born parent (and the grandchildren)are entitled by law to an Irish passport and Ireland has benefitted greatly from this arrangement.Most country give citizenship under the same system.BTW well said curitiba
oaklongan | Feb 09, 2012, 06:38 PM EST
antoman, john walker lindh looks to be in bedclothes, indeed! the women in burkas look like Beekeepers in Black...
oaklongan | Feb 09, 2012, 06:25 PM EST
Curtiba,Thank you for your the historically Accurate post.
joeboy1 | Feb 09, 2012, 06:20 PM EST
send him back to Afganistan,thats where he belongs,maybe this time he will be killed,and become a martyr and get all those virgins.
Pittsburghkid | Feb 09, 2012, 06:03 PM EST
John is one mixed up man. His father made the choice that he was Gay. Disturbed by his father's choice, John became Muslim. It is sad story, but most Gay Stories are sad.
RedBranch | Feb 09, 2012, 05:44 PM EST
Would he be of the Donegal O'Lindhs then? Well Walk on down Johnny, Liam Neeson will make you feel welcome at the Dublin Islamic Cultural Centre and it'll be a case of Quis Separabit as we say on the Shankill!
Curitiba | Feb 09, 2012, 05:17 PM EST
Well I agree with you on one thing, Ciara. The guy's a muslim, and yes he doesn't have to be Catholic to be Irish, that's down to his ancestry. But I am sorry to be a party pooper but that is total rubbish about Ireland being a "mongrel nation". They tell us the same garbage in England about England being one of those on the same scant evidence that you are basing your opinion on. The truth is that the English are in fact a Celtic people who were colonised by the Anglo-Saxons. In the same way a comparatively small amount of English colonisers almost eradicated the Irish language, so did the Anglo-Saxons to the Brythonic language that was spoken here at the time. The A-S were the ruling classes for centuries, until the arrival of the Normans. In fact, Old English was nearly supplanted by Norman French, as all of the nobility spoke no English, that was spoken by the peasants, who remained the same people they always were, descendants of indigenous Celts. Sure, there were other invasions from Vikings and so on, but they were small in number and their DNA was absorbed into the larger body of indigenous people. In fact, they have found preserved bodies in parts of England from 10,000 years ago, and using DNA, discovered that the ancient individual had many direct descendants in the area. The native Britons have remained largely homogeneous until the beginning of mass migration 60 years ago. It is a similar story in Ireland (the only blip being the Plantations). So this "mongrel nation" you refer to has only come about in the last 10 or 15 years in Ireland, but it certainly did not exist before.
ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 04:59 PM EST
Hooligan, I have no issue with people from anywhere being in Ireland as long as they respect Ireland, her people and contribute to society. I have American friends and family you know!!
hooligan6a | Feb 09, 2012, 04:58 PM EST
seanomelb, Bogsidebunny has a right to express her opinion without you calling her names. If you are not intelligent enough to express yourself without name calling, then keep it to yourself.
ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 04:57 PM EST
So this chap is due to get out of prison in 7 years? I would hope that because he has a criminal record and has served time for terrorist offences then he would NOT be granted citizenship.
ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 04:48 PM EST
Our language comes under the heading of Gaelic which encompasses a few different languages which shows that we are closely linked via culture, language,history and mitochondrial DNA. So we are closer to other people rather than being individual and distinct as you seem to feel we are.
hooligan6a | Feb 09, 2012, 04:46 PM EST
Claradexy, I was in Dublin three weeks ago and I saw a few people that were living there and judging by the language they spoke I don't think they were Irish. Although it should make you happy I don't think they were Americans either. We don't want any of those nasty Americans living in Ireland. Hell, they don't even speak Irish. BillyFitz. I'm with you. Semper Fi
ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 04:46 PM EST
Curitiba and Sean, that was simply my opinion. 'Ireland' is a mongrel 'nation', only about 1,000 years old, thats the way it is, the 'Irish' were built on waves of ancient Celts, Norse Vikings, Norman French, English settlers & many more. We are not an 'ethnic;' group, we are a mix and have adapted and mixed various cultures and traditions over the years. To give someone a passport just because they have an Irish relative does not make sense. Why not just give work permits to people who have Irish parents or whatever and of they are here long enough and actually contribute to Ireland then give them a passport? There are more non (in your words Curitiba,''ethnic'') Irish here who contribute way more than any foreign born and raised child of an Irish parent or grandparent. Curitiba, not every Irish person is a catholic. One of my closest mates is a Jehovahs witness as are her entire family and I have another mate who is a Quaker. Religion does not make someone more Irish than the next person.
Curitiba | Feb 09, 2012, 04:27 PM EST
Wrong Ciara. His mother is from Donegal, therefore he is at least half-Irish, so he is entitled to an Irish passport, both legally (indisputable) and also because you do not change your ethnic identity by being born outside your country of ancestry. When it is said his father is Irish American, the article does not define that exactly, but making a leap of faith and guessing that both his father's parents were Irish born Catholics, then Abu or whatever his name is now is fully Irish on the grounds that he has no other ancestry,so there!
seanomelb | Feb 09, 2012, 02:57 PM EST
Bogsidebunny you rabbit not all muslims are Arab you racist fool.
seanomelb | Feb 09, 2012, 02:55 PM EST
Ciaradexy!! I am diappointed you would deny my Australian born children their rights under the Irish constitution.Rainbow brew he was caught in the middle of a political storm as the Taliban wre recognised by the U.S. and the rest of the U.N. as the government of Afghanistan.He was not the only westerner to be caught up in the undeclared war.
JBRAFTREE | Feb 09, 2012, 02:51 PM EST
I believe this guy's on the Ha'penny. He shoulda' jumped in the Liffey. Bad breakfast Bogside? SemperFi Billyfitz!!!
kennedy23 | Feb 09, 2012, 02:22 PM EST
On his release why not dump in a minefield back in Afghanistan and let him go walk about!His last visit was 1998 to Ireland after the attacks on New York!! you will find you are not welcome here traitor.........
FastEddy | Feb 09, 2012, 01:41 PM EST
LOL ... So your going to let him in, right?
bob40wil | Feb 09, 2012, 12:29 PM EST
Why would anyone want him, once a traitor always a traitor.
rainbowbrew | Feb 09, 2012, 12:00 PM EST
I thught the story went that he was fighting with teh same side that the USA supported. then the USA decided not to support that side and no one told him. I think he might have been caught in the middle of a political messup. If that is true the USA will never agree. Once you are labelled by the press it is all done.
ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 11:06 AM EST
Bogside, dont dare speak for me or my country. NO ONE should get an irish passport just because their parent is Irish regardless of their religion.
donal1951 | Feb 09, 2012, 10:41 AM EST
If his mother was born in County Donegal, he is an Irish citizen by birth. All he needs to do is obtain an Irish passport, which may be a little tricky inside the big house. I know when I got my Irish passport in the mid-1980s _ I already was a citizen because of my father's birth in County Galway _ no questions were asked about my politics or my criminal record, of which there wasn't any. The issuance of a passport is a purely ministerial act. If one meets the criteria, the passport is issued. It appears the American Taliban may well have met the conditions. I am not happy about this _ I think the man should have faced the firing squad or death by hanging _ but the law is the law. If he's anticipating support from the Irish government, he won't get it. Irish law makes it clear that if a person is a dual citizen, he or she cannot call on the Irish consulate for help if they are in the country of that second citizenship.
harbourview | Feb 09, 2012, 10:16 AM EST
I'll be curious if Ireland allows it. My sister has been trying to set up Irish Citizenship for the past year and you wouldn't believe the "hoops" she's going through. Maybe if she were a criminal her chances would be better???
beaumax99 | Feb 09, 2012, 10:05 AM EST
I don't care what nationality he is. If you are a criminal, let alone a terrorist, you should be behind bars 4ever. Iowamike..I am going to read up on how he was raised..tyvm for that suggestion.
IowaMike | Feb 09, 2012, 09:48 AM EST
It just ain't possible that Ireland would welcome this nutcase. The father is worse than the son, read up on how they raised this guy....Ireland should put the whole family on the 'do not enter' list.
Springfield9 | Feb 09, 2012, 09:48 AM EST
Lindh needed 2 in the chest and one in the head. Today, there are 40,000 Muslims in Ireland. One more nut job won't hurt.
OleSarge | Feb 09, 2012, 09:46 AM EST
If you want to add to Ireland's woes, make the terrorist a citizen.
BillyFitz | Feb 09, 2012, 09:39 AM EST
Let the Marines escort him on his trip. He won't make it on the plane. Oopps.
CelticQueenUSA | Feb 09, 2012, 09:32 AM EST
No way do I want him associated with Ireland or America. He is a terrorist and nuts.
joycean | Feb 09, 2012, 09:32 AM EST
Frank Lindh's mother was born in Donegal. Irish law recognizes the children of a parent born in Ireland (some exceptions) as Irish citizens. The grandchildren of an Irish citizen can register as foreign-born citizens.
antoman | Feb 09, 2012, 09:30 AM EST
Its not often you see a man stood on a bridge in Ireland wearing his bed clothes and an overcoat.
jmccarten | Feb 09, 2012, 09:18 AM EST
Are you serious? This guy is a terrorist he will never be granted parole in only seven years, he will serve his whole 20 year sentence in a federal prison. No member on any Federal Parole Board will vote to release a terrorist in the wake of 9/11 only after seven years. His guys father is living in a dream world. The American public would be outraged is he were released early.
faberm1 | Feb 09, 2012, 09:07 AM EST
He sounds like a trouble maker that Ireland doesn't need either. If Ireland takes him as a citizen then they will be swallowing a poison pill.
ciaradexy | Feb 09, 2012, 08:31 AM EST
Hes American! Why do we give passports to people who have Irish relatives? Its ridiculous! If youre not born here or dont contribute then you shouldnt get a passport!