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American Morning

American Taliban Walker On His Way to U.S, Not Cuba

Aired January 23, 2002 - 08:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: John Walker is now making his way across the Atlantic, after leaving Kandahar yesterday, but the Taliban-American will not be joining the other detainees in Cuba. Instead, Walker is on his way to the United States to stand trial in a civilian court. Now, some people are criticizing what they see as preferential treatment for the American citizen, possibly more lenient than that given the other detainees now in Cuba.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr has more -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. Yes, John Walker is on his way back to the United States. He is expected to land here somewhere in northern Virginia possibly late today.

Pentagon officials stress he is an American citizen, and he is facing federal charges in a U.S. court of conspiracy to kill Americans and support of terrorist groups. And because he is an American, he would not face a military tribunal or commission as some of the other detainees, who are not U.S. citizens, might face.

Walker was flown off the USS Bataan, the U.S. navy warship where he has been held, late yesterday by a military helicopter. He was flown to an airfield in Pakistan, transferred to this C-130 aircraft and flown into Kandahar, the U.S. military air base in southern Afghanistan. It was here in Kandahar last night that the official transfer to U.S. law enforcement custody took place. That put him out of U.S. military hands and into the hands of the Justice Department.

Military sources do tell us that Walker was heavily restrained -- is heavily restrained during this flight back to the United States in a very similar fashion as other detainees, and so he'll be landing here sometime later today -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much this morning.

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