WASHINGTON: John Walker Lindh, the American captured in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, is to be released early from federal prison on Thursday as some US lawmakers fear he remains a security risk.

Lindh, photographed as a wild-eyed, bearded 20-year-old at his Afghanistan capture, will leave a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana on probation after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, according to a prison official.

Now 38, Lindh is among dozens of prisoners set to be released over the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan by US forces and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

His release brought objections from elected officials who asked why Lindh was being freed early and what training parole officers had to spot radicalization and recidivism among former militants.

Leaked US government documents published by Foreign Policy magazine show the federal government as recently as 2016 described Lindh as holding “extremist views.”

“What is the current interagency policy, strategy, and process for ensuring that terrorist/extremist offenders successfully reintegrate into society?” asked US Senators Richard Shelby and Margaret Hassan in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Lindh’s parents Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lindh’s lawyer Bill Cummings declined to comment.

Melissa Kimberley, a spokeswoman for the Terre Haute prison in Indiana, could not confirm details of Lindh’s release other than it would be on Thursday.

US-born Lindh converted from Catholicism to Islam as a teenager. He said he had no intention “to fight against America”.

Lindh told the court he condemned “terrorism on every level”. </s> John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban who pleaded guilty to fighting for the former militant leaders of Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was released from a federal prison in Indiana on Thursday.

John Walker Lindh in a photo obtained in 2002 from a record of religious schools where he studied for five months in Bannu, Pakistan.AP file

A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Thursday morning that Lindh was no longer in custody.

Lindh, the first U.S.-born detainee in President George W. Bush’s “war on terrorism,” served 17 years of a 20-year sentence for supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony.

The sentence was the result of a plea deal after Lindh, who is now 38, initially pleaded not guilty to 10 counts, including conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals, that could have consigned him to three life terms plus 90 years in prison.

The Justice Department agreed to the arrangement fearing that Lindh’s confession wouldn’t have been admissible in court because it was obtained without his having been read his Miranda rights and under conditions that his attorneys said amounted to torture.

Lindh was released early from the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for good behavior. He will spend three years on probation barred from possessing internet-capable devices and forbidden to view or gain access to extremist or terrorist videos, and he must allow the probation office to monitor his internet use.

That’s because federal authorities are concerned that Lindh remains a potentially violent Islamic extremist, current and former officials told NBC News this week, pointing to a handwritten letter he sent to NBC Los Angeles in 2015 in which he expressed support for ISIS, saying it was “doing a spectacular job.”

Lindh’s correspondence with journalists in prison, which was subject to U.S. inspection, was cited in a U.S. intelligence document produced in 2016 by the National Counterterrorism Center, which concluded that Lindh “continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts.”

Lindh, who grew up near San Francisco, converted to Islam as a teenager and studied Arabic and the Quran overseas. He was with the Taliban when al Qaeda terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Defense Department on 9/11.

Lindh was captured with Taliban forces in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif in December 2001 and was part of an uprising by prisoners, during which a CIA officer was killed. He later told reporters that he had fought with the Taliban for months. </s> TARIQ MAHMOOD,—/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — John Walker Lindh was released from prison Thursday after more than 17 years behind bars on charges of providing support to terrorists, a case that captivated Americans and earned him the nickname of the “American Taliban.”

Lindh, 38, was the first prisoner brought into a U.S. courtroom to face charges in the War on Terror, following the Sept. 11 attacks. His release comes 2 1/2 years before the completion of his 20-year sentence, which the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons said in a statement is attributed to Lindh’s “good conduct” during his time in prison.

On Thursday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the convicted terrorist’s release after a “relatively short sentence.”

“I understand he is still threatening the United States of America and still committed to the very jihad that he engaged in that killed a great American and there is something deeply troubling about that,” Pompeo said in an interview on Fox and Friends.

Lindh is expected to reside in northern Virginia, outside Washington, and is said by multiple sources to still be radicalized with extremist beliefs.

The conditions of Lindh’s release include a demand that he go through mental health counseling, that he not communicate or espouse extremist views and there are several restrictions related to his internet use — including a stipulation that he can only communicate online in English.

But Lindh’s release is still not without controversy.

Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., released a joint statement Tuesday expressing concern over his release and demanding more information on steps that will be taken to ensure Lindh is not a threat to public safety.

“Our highest priority is keeping America safe, secure and free,” they said in the statement. “To that end, we must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh who continue to openly call for extremist violence.”

Shelby had previously said in April that President Donald Trump had told him he opposed Lindh not serving his full sentence, but it’s unclear whether Trump plans to weigh in publicly on the matter. The Department of Justice’s public affairs office did not respond to a request for comment.

According to court documents filed in 2002, the government said that Lindh crossed the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban.

Lindh stayed in Osama bin Laden’s guest house — eventually meeting and “thanking” the leader of the terrorist organization, court documents said.

He trained with 20 other Taliban fighters at a camp in Afghanistan on “weapons, orienteering, navigation, explosives and battlefield combat, which included the use of shoulder weapons, pistols, and rocket-propelled grenades, and the construction of Molotov cocktails,” court documents said.

According to court documents, Lindh “swore allegiance to jihad,” and stayed with the Taliban despite knowing that bin Laden carried out the attacks on Sept. 11.

He was captured by Northern Alliance fighters after the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

CIA paramilitary officer Johnny “Mike” Spann, 34, was killed in a Taliban prisoner uprising, shortly after questioning the captured Lindh. He was initially charged with conspiracy in Spann’s murder, but those charges were dropped as part of an eventual plea bargain.

Spann’s father, Johnny Spann, told ABC News in an interview on Sunday that he objects to Lindh getting out three years early for good behavior. </s> John Walker Lindh, a.k.a. “The American Taliban,” on Thursday was released years early from federal prison, despite the objections of Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), President Donald Trump, the entirety of the Alabama legislature and the family of Johnny Micheal “Mike” Spann, who was an Alabamian and the first American known to be killed in “The War on Terror” in Afghanistan after 9/11.

After being captured in Afghanistan in 2001, Lindh pled guilty to serving as a soldier of the Taliban. He was sentenced to 20 years in a federal penitentiary in 2002 for his role in the death of Spann, a Winfield native and Auburn University alumnus then serving as a CIA officer.

Lindh was released prematurely from federal custody in Indiana on Thursday. As of a 2017 Foreign Policy article, Lindh still intended to spread terrorist ideology upon his release from prison.

CNN has reported that Lindh will live in Virginia under set restrictions.

Alison Spann, the late Alabamian’s daughter, recently wrote a letter to the president calling Lindh’s early release “a slap in the face — not only to my father and my family but, but for every person killed on Sept. 11th, their families, the U.S. military, U.S. [intelligence] services, families who have lost loved ones to this war and the millions of Muslims worldwide who don’t support radical extremists.”

In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned Lindh’s early release as “unexplainable and unconscionable” and followed Shelby in calling for a review of prison system policies.

Restrictions placed on Lindh, according to the Associated Press, include that “Lindh’s internet devices must have monitoring software; his online communications must be conducted in English; he must undergo mental health counseling; he is forbidden to possess or view extremist material; and he cannot hold a passport or leave the U.S.”

His release came only a day after NBC reported that Lindh, in a letter to a producer from Los Angeles-based affiliate KNBC, wrote in 2015 that the Islamic State group is “doing a spectacular job” and “is clearly very sincere and serious about fulfilling the long-neglected religious obligation to establish a caliphate through armed struggle.”

Yellowhammer News on Wednesday learned that Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01) imminently will file legislation to ensure convicted terrorists like Lindh are never released early from federal custody in the future.

On Lindh, Byrne has tweeted, “This man was held responsible for the horrific death of an Alabama CIA officer, and now he is getting out of jail early for good behavior. This is just so wrong!”

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn </s> 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh gets early release from prison, Donald Trump 'doesn't like it at all'

John Walker Lindh, the Californian who took up arms for the Taliban and was captured by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001, has been released from prison after more than 17 years.

His release is under tight restrictions that reflect US Government fears he still harbors radical views.

President Donald Trump reacted by saying: "I don't like it at all."

"Here's a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror," Mr Trump said.

Mr Lindh, 38, left a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, after getting time off for good behaviour from the 20-year sentence he received when he pleaded guilty to providing support to the Taliban.

It was not immediately clear where the man known as the "American Taliban" will live or what he will do.

He turned down an interview request last week, and his attorney declined to comment.

In a Fox News interview, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decried Mr Lindh's early release as "unexplainable and unconscionable" and called for a review of prison system policies.

The President said he asked lawyers whether there was anything that could be done to block Mr Lindh from getting out but was told no. Mr Trump said the US would closely monitor him.

A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, imposed the following restrictions on Mr Lindh:
• his internet devices must have monitoring software;
• his online communications must be conducted in English;
• he is forbidden to possess or view extremist material; and
• he cannot hold a passport or leave the US.

FBI counterterrorism officials work with federal prison authorities to determine what risk a soon-to-be-released inmate might pose.

Probation officers never explained why they sought the restrictions against Mr Lindh. But in 2017, Foreign Policy magazine cited a National Counterterrorism Centre report that said Mr Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts".

NBC reported on Wednesday that Mr Lindh, in a letter to a producer from Los Angeles-based affiliate KNBC, wrote in 2015 that the Islamic State group was "doing a spectacular job".

Mr Lindh converted to Islam as a teenager after seeing the movie "Malcolm X" and eventually made his way to Pakistan and Afghanistan and joined the Taliban.

He met Osama bin Laden and was with the Taliban on September 11, 2001, when Al Qaeda terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

Mr Lindh was captured on the battlefield after the US invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks and was initially charged with conspiring to kill Mike Spann, a CIA operative who died during an uprising of Taliban prisoners shortly after he interrogated Mr Lindh.

Mr Lindh denied any role in Mr Spann's death. But he admitted carrying an assault rifle and two grenades.

Mr Spann's daughter Alison Spann, now a journalist in Mississippi, posted a letter on Twitter that she said she had sent to Mr Trump.

In it, she called Mr Lindh's early release "a slap in the face" to everyone killed on September 11 and in the war on terror since then, along with "the millions of Muslims worldwide who don't support radical extremists".

Republican Alabama senator Richard Shelby and Democratic New Hampshire senator Maggie Hassan also expressed concern about Mr Lindh's release in a letter last week to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

"We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh who continue to openly call for extremist violence," they wrote.

The bureau defended itself on Thursday in a statement that said Mr Lindh's release followed federal laws and guidelines.

It said it worked closely with outside agencies "to reduce the risk terrorist offenders pose inside and outside of prisons", and added that no radicalised inmate had returned to federal prison on terrorism-related charges.

CAGE advocate says criticism of early release is misguided

Moazzam Begg, a former detainee at Guantanamo who now serves as director of outreach for London-based CAGE (which supports the rights of those accused of terror-related crimes), said the criticism over Mr Lindh's early release was misguided.

Mr Begg said if anything, Mr Lindh was imprisoned too long.

He noted that many of the other Taliban fighters who were sent to Guantanamo as enemy combatants were released much earlier.

As for Mr Lindh's letter in support of the Islamic State group, Mr Begg noted that it was written four years ago and that Mr Lindh might not have had full knowledge of the group's atrocities from behind bars.

"Nobody really knows what his views are right now in 2019," he said.

In a statement, Mr Begg said: "It is now time for him to be allowed to restart his life in peace and freedom." </s> (TERRE HAUTE, Ind.) — The California man who became known as the “American Taliban” after his capture on an Afghanistan battlefield in late 2001 has been released from prison.

Thirty-eight-year-old John Walker Lindh was released Thursday from the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, a federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman told The Associated Press. Lindh spent more than 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to providing support to the Taliban.

The plea deal called for a 20-year sentence, but Lindh is getting out a few years early for good behavior.

His release was opposed by the family of Mike Spann, who was killed during an uprising of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan shortly after interrogating Lindh.

A judge recently imposed additional restrictions on Lindh’s post-release supervision, including monitoring of his internet use. </s> FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2002 file photo, John Walker Lindh, far right, leaves the Alexandria Detention Center in Alexandria, Va., before dawn, on the way to his first appearance in a nearby federal court. Lindh, the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by U.S. forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to go free Thursday, May 23, 2019, after nearly two decades in prison. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2002 file photo, John Walker Lindh, far right, leaves the Alexandria Detention Center in Alexandria, Va., before dawn, on the way to his first appearance in a nearby federal court. Lindh, the young Californian who became known as the American Taliban after he was captured by U.S. forces in the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, is set to go free Thursday, May 23, 2019, after nearly two decades in prison. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

John Walker Lindh, the Californian who took up arms for the Taliban and was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001, got out of prison Thursday after more than 17 years, released under tight restrictions that reflected government fears he still harbors radical views.

President Donald Trump reacted by saying, “I don’t like it at all.”

“Here’s a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror,” he said.

Lindh, 38, left a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, after getting time off for good behavior from the 20-year sentence he received when he pleaded guilty to providing support to the Taliban.

It was not immediately clear where the man known as the “American Taliban” will live or what he will do. He turned down an interview request last week, and his attorney declined to comment Thursday.

In a Fox News interview, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decried Lindh’s early release as “unexplainable and unconscionable” and called for a review of prison system policies.

The president said he asked lawyers whether there was anything that could be done to block Lindh from getting out but was told no. Trump said the U.S. will closely monitor him.

Under restrictions imposed by a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, Lindh’s internet devices must have monitoring software; his online communications must be conducted in English; he must undergo mental health counseling; he is forbidden to possess or view extremist material; and he cannot hold a passport or leave the U.S.

FBI counterterrorism officials work with federal prison authorities to determine what risk a soon-to-be-released inmate might pose.

Probation officers never explained why they sought the restrictions against Lindh. But in 2017, Foreign Policy magazine cited a National Counterterrorism Center report that said Lindh “continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts.”

On Wednesday, NBC reported that Lindh, in a letter to a producer from Los Angeles-based affiliate KNBC, wrote in 2015 that the Islamic State group was “doing a spectacular job.”

Lindh converted to Islam as a teenager after seeing the movie “Malcolm X” and eventually made his way to Pakistan and Afghanistan and joined the Taliban. He met Osama bin Laden and was with the Taliban on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Lindh was captured on the battlefield after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following 9/11 and was initially charged with conspiring to kill Mike Spann, a CIA operative who died during an uprising of Taliban prisoners shortly after interrogating Lindh.

Lindh denied any role in Spann’s death. But he admitted carrying an assault rifle and two grenades during his time with the Taliban.

Spann’s daughter Alison Spann, now a journalist in Mississippi, posted a letter on Twitter that she said she had sent to Trump. In it, she called Lindh’s early release “a slap in the face” to everyone killed on 9/11 and in the war on terror since then, along with “the millions of Muslims worldwide who don’t support radical extremists.”

Republican Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby and Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan also expressed concern about Lindh’s release in a letter last week to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

“We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh who continue to openly call for extremist violence,” they wrote.

The bureau defended itself Thursday in a statement that said Lindh’s release followed federal laws and guidelines. It said it works closely with outside agencies “to reduce the risk terrorist offenders pose inside and outside of prisons,” and added that no radicalized inmate has returned to federal prison on terrorism-related charges.

Moazzam Begg, a former detainee at Guantanamo, now serves as director of outreach for London-based CAGE, which supports the rights of those accused of terror-related crimes. He said the criticism over Lindh’s early release is misguided. If anything, Begg said, Lindh was imprisoned too long.

He noted that many of the other Taliban fighters who were sent to Guantanamo as enemy combatants were released much earlier.

As for Lindh’s letter in support of the Islamic State, Begg noted that it was written four years ago and that Lindh might not have had full knowledge of the group’s atrocities from behind bars.

“Nobody really knows what his views are right now in 2019,” he said.

In a statement, Begg said: “It is now time for him to be allowed to restart his life in peace and freedom.”

___

This story has been corrected to show that Alison Spann is a journalist in Mississippi, not Alabama.

___

Barakat reported from Falls Church, Va. Contributors include Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama and Eric Tucker in Washington. </s> (CNN) John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban" whose capture in Afghanistan riveted a country in the early days after the September 11 attacks, has been released from prison, authorities said.

After serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, Lindh, the first US-born detainee in the war on terror, on Thursday walked out of a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed, and will join the small, but growing, group of Americans convicted of terror-related charges attempting to re-enter into society.

Lindh will live in Virginia subject to the direction of his probation officer, his lawyer, Bill Cummings, tells CNN. But some are already calling for an investigation into his time in prison -- where he is said in two US government reports to have made pro-ISIS and other extremist statements -- that could send him back into detention.

Reports of Lindh's maintained radicalization, detailed in two 2017 official counterterrorism assessments, are also driving questions about the efforts of the US government to rehabilitate former sympathizers like him, who are expected to complete prison sentences in waves in the coming years.

Raised in the suburbs north of San Francisco, Lindh took an interest in Islam at a young age, converting to the religion at 16 and moving to the Middle East to learn Arabic after finishing high school.

In 2000, according to documentation of his interrogations, Lindh went to Pakistan and trained with a radical Islamic group there before moving to Afghanistan and joining the Taliban

Because he was not native to Afghanistan and did not speak the local languages, Lindh told investigators that he joined the "Arab group," or al Qaeda, studying maps and explosives, fighting on a front line, and at one point, meeting with Osama bin Laden.

When US troops first encountered Lindh in November 2001, just weeks after the September 11 attacks, he was bedraggled and injured.

A CNN camera filmed as Lindh, a daze cast over his dirty face, told American forces how he had wound up at a detention camp in northern Afghanistan and survived a Taliban uprising there that killed hundreds of prisoners and a CIA officer, Johnny Michael Spann.

Lindh admitted to participating in the revolt near Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, but prosecutors did not say that he had a role in Spann's death.

Initially charged with a raft of serious offenses, including conspiracy to kill US nationals, Lindh, in 2002, struck a deal reportedly offered by prosecutors in part to prevent details of the apparent mistreatment of Lindh at the hand of US forces by his defense. Lindh pleaded guilty to fighting alongside the Taliban.

At a sentencing hearing in Virginia that year, he sniffled and nearly broke down as he addressed the court in a 14-minute speech.

"Had I realized then what I know now about the Taliban, I would never have joined them," Lindh said. "I never understood jihad to mean anti-Americanism or terrorism."

That contrition has been contested by a pair of official reports, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the federal Bureau of Prisons, that were first published by Foreign Policy in 2017.

According to the NCTC report, as of May 2016, Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts." In March 2016, the report says, he "told a television news producer that he would continue to spread violent extremist Islam upon his release."

Lindh had made "pro ISIS statements to various reporters," the Bureau of Prisons report also stated.

In an email to his father included in the BOP report, Lindh said that he was "not interested in renouncing my beliefs or issuing condemnations."

The two assessments do not provide details for the statements, and the BOP and the NCTC declined to comment to CNN on the reports.

On Wednesday, a local NBC News station in Los Angeles released excerpts from correspondence a producer there had with Lindh from behind bars, where Lindh said in 2015 he thought ISIS was doing a "spectacular job."

"The Islamic State is clearly very sincere and serious about fulfilling the long-neglected religious obligation of establishing a caliphate through armed struggle, which is the only correct method," Lindh told the producer, according to the report.

Lindh denied a request by CNN to be interviewed in prison and his lawyers declined to comment on the counterterrorism assessments.

Prison term

In prison, Lindh was known to be deeply religious -- he recited the entire Quran from memory each week, and regularly gave a call to prayer for the other Muslims in his unit, according to a narrative written by an inmate who served with him.

Lindh went by the name Yayha, the inmate wrote in the anonymous essay, which was published by CAGE, a group started by someone released without charges after being detained in Guantanamo that advocates for those arrested or prosecuted in the war on terror. The human rights group Amnesty International cut ties with CAGE because of some of its statements and relationships with terror suspects.

"His whole life revolves around reading, writing, praying, and working out in his cell. His Muslim brothers know he is busy so they don't hesitate to cook for him in order make sure he eats well," the inmate wrote.

Lindh discussed his values in his own essay, published by CAGE in 2014 and titled "Memorising the Qur'an: A Practical Guide for Prisoners."

"Free time is a great gift from Allah and few people enjoy more of it than prisoners," Lindh wrote. "The best way we can express our gratitude to Allah for this gift is through the study, recitation, memorisation, contemplation, and implementation of His Noble Book."

On Monday, Johnny Spann, the father of the CIA officer killed in the Taliban uprising that Lindh participated in, petitioned the Virginia judge overseeing Lindh's case to investigate the extremist comments he allegedly made while in prison.

"You need to find out for sure, is this guy still the same al Qaeda member we put in jail? If he is still the al Qaeda member we put in jail then we need to throw the plea agreement away and do something else," Spann told CNN in an interview.

Spann has protested Lindh's early release to lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, who said last month that he raised the issue with the White House.

In a tweet, Shelby wrote that President Donald Trump agreed that Lindh should serve his full sentence. Lindh's early release this week appears to be the result of time taken off of his sentence for good behavior.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this story, and legal experts question what power the President could have to prevent Lindh's release outside of a wider regulation change, which would likely invite a backlash.

Feds not prepared, experts say

After he leaves prison, Lindh's actions will be closely watched as part of a sweeping set of conditions imposed on his three years of supervised release by Judge T.S. Ellis , who oversees his case in Virginia.

Under the conditions, Lindh is not allowed to possess any "internet capable device" without permission from the probation office, and any approved device would be "monitored continuously."

Lindh is not allowed to have any online communications in any language other than English unless otherwise approved, cannot communicate with a known extremist, and cannot possess or view "material that reflects extremist or terroristic views."

The strict impositions are likely to be mirrored in dozens of cases like Lindh's. As of last week, there were 421 inmates with a history of, or nexus to, international terrorism, in the federal prison system, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Some 60 to 100 of those prisoners are expected to be released in the next five years, said Mitch Silber, the former director of Intelligence Analysis at the NYPD, who now runs a nonprofit that works to rehabilitate radicalized individuals.

Counterterrorism experts have said that the federal government has not done enough to prepare for the coming trend of releases.

"Right now there is no program to rehabilitate and reintegrate them, give them the type of skills that will make it less likely they will recidivise to some type of criminality," Silber said.

Mary McCord, the former acting assistant attorney general for National Security at the Justice Department, said officials at the Justice Department had only begun to consider the impending releases during her tenure, which ended in 2017.

"At the time I left not nearly enough had been done and we were nervous about it," McCord said in an interview.

The Justice Department referred CNN to the BOP for comment, which said in a statement that it has policies to monitor communications of inmates with known or suspected ties to domestic and foreign terrorism and that they share information with law enforcement as appropriate.

The BOP also says it encourages all inmates, including those linked to terrorism, to participate in programs "that assist offenders in developing the skills necessary for a successful reintegration into society."

"Based on a series of focused interviews conducted by BOP staff, the BOP has found that many inmates have turned away from radicalized ideology in prison based on self-study, or due to participation in programming or sentence length," BOP said.

Silber, who founded his non-profit Parallel Networks with a former American al Qaeda sympathizer convicted of conspiring to solicit murder, said that prisons could adapt already existing re-entry programs for gang offenders to fit extremists.

He also noted that a dialogue about the origins of an extremist's turn to radicalization can be helpful in determining how to move away from an ideology.

In the absence of that, or in the case of a return to criminal behavior, federal investigators could open a new investigation into a released prisoner.

"Ultimately the hammer that the federal government has over (Lindh) is that if he does behave in a way that looks like he is turning toward terrorism, they can open up a new investigation on him and essentially we can begin the process again," Silber said.

Terms of release

In emails Lindh wrote from behind bars referenced in the BOP report, he expressed interest in moving post-release to Ireland, where he is a citizen, as well as Puerto Rico.

Lindh said that he had gained Irish citizenship in 2013 "as a result of having an Irish grandparent" and wanted to petition the country to take him in by explaining the "unique circumstances that make my survival in the US practically impossible."

"Essentially I am seeking asylum from one country where I am a citizen in another country where I am also a citizen," Lindh wrote in an email to CAGE, who he had asked to help him with his attempt to relocate to Ireland. A person familiar with Lindh's status confirmed he is an Irish citizen.

It appears likely that Lindh's plan to move to Ireland may be prevented at least for now by the terms of his supervised release, which say that he cannot hold a passport and can't leave the United States "without the express permission of this Court."

Prisoners leaving detention under terms of supervised release are required to send a release plan to the probation office of the district in the country where they want to go, who will investigate the case and decide whether or not to allow the residency.

CAGE's Outreach Director Moazzam Begg, who has spoken with Frank Lindh about his son's case, told CNN that it would make sense for Lindh to move back with his father in northern California.

"His father has always been a great supporter of him and has believed in his son's cause," Begg said.

Frank Lindh denied an interview request from CNN. </s> John Walker Lindh, the Californian who took up arms for the Taliban and was captured by invading U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001, got out of prison Thursday after more than 17 years, released under tight restrictions that reflected government fears he still harbors radical views.

Lindh, 38, left a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, after getting time off for good behavior from the 20-year sentence he received upon pleading guilty to providing support to the Taliban.

It was not immediately clear where the man known as the "American Taliban" will live or what he will do.

In a Fox interview, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned his early release as "unexplainable and unconscionable" and called for a review of prison system policies.

Lindh's release was also opposed by the family of CIA officer Mike Spann, who was killed during an uprising of Taliban prisoners shortly after interrogating Lindh in Afghanistan.

Under restrictions imposed by a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, Lindh's internet devices must have monitoring software; his online communications must be conducted in English; he must undergo mental health counseling; he is forbidden to possess or view extremist material; and he cannot hold a passport or leave the U.S.

Probation officers never explained why they sought the restrictions, but it is clear authorities retain misgivings about Lindh. In 2017, Foreign Policy magazine cited a National Counterterrorism Center report that Lindh "continued to advocate for global jihad and to write and translate violent extremist texts."

On Wednesday, NBC reported that Lindh, in a letter to a producer from Los Angeles-based affiliate KNBC, wrote in 2015 that the Islamic State group is "doing a spectacular job" and "is clearly very sincere and serious about fulfilling the long-neglected religious obligation to establish a caliphate through armed struggle."

Lindh converted to Islam as a teenager after seeing the movie "Malcolm X," went overseas to study Arabic and the Quran and eventually made his way to Pakistan and Afghanistan and joined the Taliban. He met Osama bin Laden and was with the Taliban on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Lindh was captured in a battle with U.S.-allied Northern Alliance fighters in late 2001. He was present when a group of Taliban prisoners launched an attack that killed Spann.

Spann's daughter Alison Spann, now a journalist in Alabama, posted a letter on her Twitter account that she said she had sent to President Donald Trump. In it, she called Lindh's early release "a slap in the face" to everyone killed on 9/11 and in the war on terror since then, along with "the millions of Muslims worldwide who don't support radical extremists."

Lindh was initially charged with conspiring to kill Spann. He denied any role in Spann's death but admitted carrying an assault rifle and two grenades.

Republican Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby and Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan also expressed concern about Lindh's release in a letter last week to the Bureau of Prisons.

"We must consider the security and safety implications for our citizens and communities who will receive individuals like John Walker Lindh who continue to openly call for extremist violence," they wrote.

The bureau defended itself Thursday in a statement that said Lindh’s release followed federal laws and guidelines. It said it works closely with outside agencies “to reduce the risk terrorist offenders pose inside and outside of prisons,” and added that no radicalized inmate has returned to federal prison on terrorism-related charges.
John Walker Lindh, the first person to be convicted of a crime in the War on Terror, is released on probation from a U.S. federal prison after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence. Lindh has refused to renounce Islamist extremism and will be on probation for three years. U.S. President Donald Trump condemns the early release.