Americans Afghanistan

Two Americans filming a documentary on the Afghanistan war died in an attack on their rebel escorts near the Afghan capital of Kabul, the U.S. Embassy and guerrilla spokesmen said Tuesday. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad confirmed that independent film maker Lee Shapiro, 37, of New York, and camera soundman Jim Lindelof, 30, of Los Angeles, were killed Oct. 11. The embassy said their bodies are still in Afghanistan but gave no other details.

Three gloomy ravens perched atop the OK Corral should suffice as an omen that the cinematic Westerner is galloping back. Now on the wide screen is an epic remake of "The Alamo," last seen with John Wayne; Walt Disney's animators have saddled up with "Home on the Range"; and HBO is twinning "The Sopranos" with "Deadwood," featuring a Calamity Jane who talks like a rapper. This is not so surprising.

Federal prosecutors conceded in court here Monday that John Walker Lindh had no "personal involvement" in the death of CIA Agent Johnny "Mike" Spann, who was the first U.S. fatality in the ongoing war against terrorism. But Judge T.S. Ellis III said the government does not have to prove that specific people were selected for murder. Rather, he ruled that prosecutors must show only that Lindh knew that the general aim of his involvement with the Taliban and Al Qaeda was to kill Americans.

Two dozen federal employees who had contact with John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan or on a Navy ship have agreed to talk to the lawyers defending him on charges of conspiring to kill Americans abroad and helping terrorists, according to court documents filed Thursday. The defense had asked to talk to 77 people they thought might support their contention that Lindh never meant to hurt his countrymen and was mistreated before he gave statements to the FBI that form the bulk of the case against him.

Two dozen federal employees who had contact with John Walker Lindh in Afghanistan or on a Navy ship have agreed to talk to the lawyers defending him on charges of conspiring to kill Americans abroad and helping terrorists, according to court documents filed Thursday. The defense had asked to talk to 77 people they thought might support their contention that Lindh never meant to hurt his countrymen and was mistreated before he gave statements to the FBI that form the bulk of the case against him.

Yasser Esam Hamdi, who officials believe may be a second American Taliban fighter, was flown Friday to the United States as the military continued to review whether he was born here and should be handed over to federal law enforcement for prosecution. The 22-year-old was taken under heavy guard from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a naval base at Norfolk, Va. Authorities have found a birth certificate that appears to verify his claim that he was born in Baton Rouge, La.

The United States on Monday denied a Soviet report that an American adviser has been killed in battle in Afghanistan, saying there are no such U.S. personnel in that country. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said: "There are no American (military) advisers in Afghanistan. "The only official (American) presence in that country is limited to our staff of 20 people at the embassy in Kabul. They are restricted to the capital city.

Afghan jets bombed guerrilla positions around the strategic eastern city of Jalalabad, and Kabul radio said that hundreds of insurgents were killed in a failed attempt to capture the city. The guerrillas admitted that bombing by government forces hampered their advance but said they shot down five aircraft and killed more than 100 government soldiers. The government radio said the dead included four Americans, a Saudi national and some Pakistanis.

Afghan guerrillas Saturday freed an American aid worker who was held captive for nearly six months, officials said. The fundamentalist rebel group Hizb-i-Islami, or Islamic Party, escorted the American, Joel DeHart, across the border into Pakistan and released him to U.S. Consul General Gerald Fierstein. DeHart, 34, of Camden, N.J., had been working on an animal husbandry project for the British relief group Global Partners when he and American veterinarian William Lewis were abducted July 7.

U.S. military strikes against alleged terrorists in Afghanistan and Sudan prompted some international oil companies to reassess their operations and take steps to protect personnel and equipment in the region. Sudan produces little oil or gas and Afghanistan produces none, but some U.S.-based oil and gas exploration companies said they are concerned about their holdings and personnel in nearby countries.

Justice Department officials have decided not to charge the American-born prisoner who was transferred from a U.S. military prison in Cuba to Norfolk, Va., last week, concluding that U.S. prosecutors lack enough incriminating information, officials said. That leaves the detainee, Yaser Esam Hamdi, 22, in legal limbo as government lawyers try to determine whether there is a way to charge him under U.S. military law.

Yasser Esam Hamdi, who officials believe may be a second American Taliban fighter, was flown Friday to the United States as the military continued to review whether he was born here and should be handed over to federal law enforcement for prosecution. The 22-year-old was taken under heavy guard from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a naval base at Norfolk, Va. Authorities have found a birth certificate that appears to verify his claim that he was born in Baton Rouge, La.

Pentagon officials said Thursday they are all but certain that a 22-year-old detainee from the Afghan war being held in Cuba is a U.S. citizen, and they are considering turning him over to federal law enforcement authorities. The captive, identified as Yasser Esam Hamdi, was seized during a late November prison uprising in Afghanistan, as was John Walker Lindh of Northern California. But while Lindh was readily identified as an American citizen, U.S.

Federal prosecutors conceded in court here Monday that John Walker Lindh had no "personal involvement" in the death of CIA Agent Johnny "Mike" Spann, who was the first U.S. fatality in the ongoing war against terrorism. But Judge T.S. Ellis III said the government does not have to prove that specific people were selected for murder. Rather, he ruled that prosecutors must show only that Lindh knew that the general aim of his involvement with the Taliban and Al Qaeda was to kill Americans.

Days before he allegedly joined a terrorist training camp run by Osama bin Laden, John Walker Lindh told his mother that he would not return to California because "I don't intend to leave Pakistan until I finish what I came here for." The e-mail does not directly show that Lindh, 21, conspired to murder Americans, as U.S. authorities have charged, or that he had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

His life is a sweep of recent Afghan history. Episodically over four decades, as this country's politics staggered from monarchy to communism to warlordism to religious extremism, California pathologist G. Gordon Hadley has dedicated himself to teaching young medical students in the troubled land. Now 80, both Hadley and his resiliently cheerful wife, Alphie, who sometimes serves as his lab assistant, are back again.

Rejected by the Taliban, three diplomats said they had to give up for now on their bid to see foreign relief workers, including two Americans, jailed for allegedly propagating Christianity in Afghanistan, a Muslim nation. But the envoys--from the U.S., Australia and Germany--said they would continue pressing the Taliban rulers to give them access to the eight workers. Foreign Ministry officials said they would escort the three men to the airport today to board a U.N.

Choking back tears, the parents of two American aid workers under arrest in Afghanistan pleaded Monday for the release of the women, with the father of one begging the ruling Taliban to let him take his daughter's place. Dayna Curry, 24, and Heather Mercer, 29, are among eight Western aid workers arrested last month by the Taliban's religious police and accused of seeking to convert Muslims to Christianity, a violation of Afghanistan's Islamic law.

A game of basketball between a U.S. and an Afghan team turned violent when spectators kicked a fallen American player in the head--and a guard rushing to protect him unintentionally shot and wounded two Afghans. The incident Thursday at Kabul's main stadium wasn't the first time an event staged to foster goodwill with Afghans has gotten out of control, and an Afghan sports official suggested that the games should be put on hold until the security situation in the capital improves.

Claiming John Walker Lindh was a soldier, not a terrorist, his attorneys presented new details Friday of his initial weeks in captivity and said the traumatized young prisoner cooperated with the FBI only in the hope of ending mistreatment by U.S. authorities. The defense team also released letters written during that period to Lindh by his parents in Northern California, who conveyed their love and eagerness to help him and vented frustration over U.S. officials not forwarding their mail.