'American Taliban' militant John Walker Lindh released from prison - Fox News

John Walker Lindh, the captured Islamic militant who at age 20 journeyed to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and fought alongside the terrorists in the days after 9/11,  was released from a U.S. federal prison in Indiana on Thursday -- despite lawmakers' concerns about the “security and safety implications” of freeing an unrepentant terrorist who officials say continues to “openly call for extremist violence."

Lindh, dubbed the "American Taliban," had been serving his sentence at the Terre Haute, Indiana facility. He was discharged several years before completing the 20-year prison sentence he received for joining and supporting the Taliban, with officials citing "good behavior" for the early release. The former Islamist fighter and enemy combatant, named “Detainee 001 in the war on terror,” was captured alongside a group of Taliban fighters in 2001, just months after the Sept. 11 attacks and the start of the war in Afghanistan.

DAUGHTER OF AMERICAN KILLED AFTER SPEAKING WITH LINDH SLAMS UPCOMING EARLY RELEASE

As he reintegrates into American society, Lindh will have a set of heavy restrictions placed on him. Some lawmakers, however, question whether the safeguards are stringent enough.

“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,” Sens. Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., wrote in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons late last week and that was obtained by the Washington Post.

In the letter, the lawmakers reportedly sought details on how the agency is working to prevent prisoners such as Lindh from committing additional crimes after their release. They also asked which other “terrorist offenders” are next in line to be freed and how the Federal Bureau of Prisons determines whether or not someone is an “ongoing public threat.”

Lindh has been blamed for playing a role in the death of Johnny “Mike” Spann, a U.S Marine turned CIA paramilitary operative who became the first American to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. Spann’s daughter, Allison, told Fox News in March that Lindh’s early release “feels like such a slap in the face.”

LINDH IS SET TO BE RELEASED – SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

In November 2001, U.S forces learned that an American – Lindh – was among the cluster of Taliban fighters left in limbo after their leader surrendered to the Northern Alliance in the northern Afghanistan province of Mazar-i-Sharif. Spann was the first to go into a compound there, serving as a prison, to interview Lindh, peppering him with questions about where he was from and what he was doing. But Lindh refused to respond.

“In those moments, when he chose to stay silent, he sealed his fate as a traitor to the United States,” Allison Spann said. “At any point, he could have warned him that something was being planned.”

Hours later, Lindh’s fellow detainees erupted in a violent revolt that left Mike Spann dead.

The initial charges leveled against the then 20-year-old Lindh in 2002 included one for murder conspiracy due to the role he played in the deadly prison rebellion.

However, nine of the ten counts in an indictment were then dropped and Lindh ended up pleading guilty to disobeying an executive order outlawing support to the Taliban and for possessing a weapon in Afghanistan.

Lindh at the time told a U.S. district judge he never intended to kill Americans.

“I did not go to fight against America, and I never did,” Lindh said, according to The Washington Post. “I have never supported terrorism in any form, and I never will … I made a mistake by joining the Taliban. Had I realized then what I know now, I would never have joined them.”

Sentencing reports have indicated that “good behavior” may serve as justification for Lindh’s early release.

A convert to Islam hailing from northern California’s Marin County, Lindh made the journey to Afghanistan after journeying through Yemen and Pakistan as a 19-year-old shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks. He underwent training in Kandahar and met with Al Qaeda chief Usama bin Laden on at least one occasion.

In 2017, the National Counterterrorism Center, according to documents obtained by Foreign Policy, underscored that Lindh continued to "advocate for global jihad and write and translate violent extremist texts."

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Furthermore, he is alleged to have told a TV producer last March that he would “continue to spread violent extremism Islam upon his release.”

When he leaves lockup, Lindh, according to court records viewed by the Washington Post, will need permission to obtain Internet-connected devices, will not be allowed to talk online in any language but English and will be barred from having a passport, among other restrictions.

Fox News' Greg Norman and Hollie McKay contributed to this report.

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2019-05-23 12:42:20Z
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Modi poised to secure resounding victory in India elections - CNN

Though only a handful of seats have been officially called, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which needs 272 seats in the next parliament to form a government, is leading in 349 constituencies. The main opposition Congress Party, in contrast, is only leading in 50 seats.

Full results are expected to emerge in the next few hours.

The likely result follows a polarizing election during which Modi and the BJP portrayed the incumbent less as an economic reformer -- the main message in the 2014 elections that first brought Modi to national office -- and more as a muscular nationalist firmly rooted in the Hindu right wing movement, a turn that made many liberals and minority Indians nervous.

The Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, struggled to make headway with voters.

The key challenge for Gandhi was to capitalize on the subdued economic mood to rebuild what was once a formidable national party machine that occupied the center-ground in Indian politics.

Trends show that this approach has likely failed.

Hindu-led campaign

India has a long history of sectarian violence, with members of the Hindu community, which accounts for some 80% of all Indians, often clashing with minority groups, among them the roughly 200 million Muslims who call the country home.

As a lifelong member of the Hindu right wing movement, many members of which see India as an exclusively Hindu nation, Modi's rise has long fanned concerns about the erosion of India's secular foundations -- concerns that were front and center during the election.

A military standoff with Muslim majority Pakistan just weeks before polling was seen as boosting the BJP's campaign.

The trigger was a devastating terrorist attack on Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region in February. The bombing was followed by the first aerial confrontation between the countries in several decades, something that was held up by Modi's allies as proof that he was only leader who could effectively respond to terror threats that Delhi says emanate from Pakistani soil, a claim refuted by Islamabad.

In the charged electoral atmosphere, one of Modi's most prominent Hindu nationalist allies, the controversial Hindu ascetic turned chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, suggested that the Indian armed forces were in fact Modi's forces -- a remark that invited censure from India's electoral authorities, but which also underlined the thrust of the BJP campaign.

Meanwhile, the BJP named another controversial Hindu ascetic as one of its candidates in central India. Pragya Singh Thakur, who is currently facing terrorism charges connected to a bombing attack on Muslims several years ago, won the backing of the highest echelons of the BJP despite an uproar at her nomination. Thakur denies the charges, while the BJP has portrayed the case against her as a conspiracy by its opponents to tar the country's Hindu community.

Modi's victory

Above all, the BJP campaign presented the election as a binary choice for voters: Whether they were for or against Modi.

Backed by a ground campaign operation and publicity machine that has been years in the making, overseen by BJP president and Modi's closest political ally Amit Shah, Modi has successfully built a cult of personality that opposition parties, including the principal opposition Congress led by Gandhi, have struggled to counter.

Congress focused its campaign on what the party said were Modi's failures to deliver on the promises he made in 2014, principally on the economy. Instead, as an alternative, it promised minimum income guarantee for poor Indians, while also saying that it would work to protect India's diversity in the face of threats from divisive right wing Hindus.

Attempts were also made to cobble together a broad opposition alliance, bringing together regional parties opposed to the BJP, to take on the Modi juggernaut.

Yet these efforts seemed to have failed. Attention now turns to the priorities of the next Modi government, as the Indian economy, while still growing at relatively robust rates, faces a cocktail of issues: From a continuing youth jobs crisis, to indications of growing distress among India's farmers.

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2019-05-23 11:34:00Z
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India election: PM Narendra Modi on course for decisive win - NBC News

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May 23, 2019, 11:06 AM UTC

By Saphora Smith

LONDON — Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked set to beat expectations and secure a decisive electoral victory Thursday morning, setting up his Hindu nationalist party to govern India for another five years.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which critics say has aggravated religious tensions in India — was on course to win around 300 of the 542 available, according to the Election Commission of India.

That would be more than the 282 it won in the last general election in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in India’s Parliament.

However, the main opposition coalition, led by Rahul Ghandi's Congress party, is yet to concede.

“I don’t think even in the wildest dreams of BJP leaders they thought they would do this well,” said Sayan Banerjee, a political scientist at the University of Essex who focuses on India and South Asia, cautioning that all the votes were yet to be counted.

The election is the world's largest democratic exercise, with some 900 million people eligible to cast their votes over six weeks in the country of 1.3 billion people.

The vote was seen as a referendum on Modi, whose economic reforms have had mixed results, but whose roots as a social underdog in India’s highly hierarchical society boosted his popularity. The son of a tea seller, Modi was propelled to power in 2014 and has presented himself as a pro-business leader who is strong enough to defend the country against Pakistan, India’s Muslim-majority arch-rival.

The success of the BJP comes off the back of a flare up of long-standing tensions between nuclear-armed enemies India and Pakistan. Earlier this year, Pakistan-based militants killed dozens of Indian troops in the disputed region of Kashmir. Modi responded by launching airstrikes targeting what New Delhi claimed were militant training camps in Pakistani territory.

“This definitely turned the tide and projected Modi as a strong leader,” said Banerjee. “It was definitely appreciated by BJP voters who were wavering.”

The poor showing by the opposition Congress party will raise questions about the leadership of Gandhi, a scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty whose father, grandmother and great grandfather all served as prime minister.

An Indian member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (DMK) celebrates as results came in for India's general election in Chennai.Arun Sankar / AFP - Getty Images

“Gandhi is seen as runner-up in terms of strength and charisma compared to Narendra Modi,” said Banerjee. “The dominant narrative is that Gandhi is a rich guy from a famous political party … people feel that he doesn’t deserve it and he doesn’t get what the people want.”

As for what a landslide victory for the BJP could mean for India, critics have said Modi’s Hindu-first platform risks exacerbating social tensions in the country where Hindus comprise about 80 percent of the population.

"Life could become more uncomfortable for Muslims in terms of rhetoric, relations with neighbors and in terms of civil rights," in some regions of the country, said Banerjee.

The dominant socially-conservative wing of the BJP hopes to turn the structure of Indian society from a caste-based hierarchy to a cleavage based on religion, he said. This is because it would help them retain power in the future, he added.

However, Banerjee cautioned, that vision would be difficult to achieve in a country where the caste structure is deeply rooted.

Saphora Smith

Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital. 

Associated Press and Reuters contributed.

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2019-05-23 11:06:00Z
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India’s Narendra Modi Wins Re-Election With Strong Mandate - The Wall Street Journal

NEW DELHI—Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the nationalist leader who has dominated the political debate in the world’s largest democracy for the past five years, will return to power with a strong mandate, according to the official government tally, setting the stage for him to pursue more ambitious policies both at home and abroad.

With almost all of the votes counted, local-television estimates and the official government count showed the ruling BJP and its allies set to win more than 340 seats—enough to reach a majority in...

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2019-05-23 10:35:00Z
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Indian stocks hit record highs as investors cheer likely Modi win - CNN

India's benchmark index, the Sensex, surged 900 points to cross 40,000 for the first time ever after early poll counts in the country's massive election put Modi's party and its allies in the lead. The Sensex gave up some of those gains later but continues to hover around the milestone.

The country's other major stock index, the Nifty, also hit record highs.

Modi swept to power in 2014 promising to give India's economy a shot in the arm by removing red tape and spurring domestic and foreign investment.

He's had some success in boosting India's image as an attractive investment destination for manufacturers and retailers, but other promises haven't panned out and growth and investment has slowed in recent quarters.

"The expectations of really big reforms from 2014 are a bit tempered now, but I think we'll see a broadly reform-minded and business-friendly government" if Modi comes back to power, said Shilan Shah, India economist at Capital Economics.

While no seats have officially been declared, the BJP was leading in 292 constituencies shortly after midday local time. The magic number of seats to gain a majority is 272, so if the early trends turn into concrete results, Modi's party and its allies will comfortably sail through.

Surprise landslide?

In 2014, the BJP secured 282 seats — the biggest majority secured by a single party in 30 years.

Stocks had already risen earlier in the week after exit polls indicated a victory for Modi's party, but investors were still expecting it to have to form a coalition government.

"No one priced in a BJP majority," Shah said.

Analysts say the election-day market surge is unlikely to last, however, as realities about the slowing global economy, trade disputes and tricky local issues return to the fore.

"One has to keep the uncertain global backdrop in mind and also the sluggish growth of the domestic economy," said Priyanka Kishore, India economist at Oxford Economics.

"When the dust settles, focus is likely to return to Modi's economic agenda and whether [he] will be able to deliver on the stalled land and labor reforms in his second term."

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2019-05-23 08:14:00Z
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India started counting votes for its massive election. Modi is set to win - CNBC

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Tolga Akmen | AFP | Getty Images

India's massive elections concluded earlier this week. The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. local time today and final results are expected thereafter.

According to the Election Commission of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) built up a significant lead over its main opposition, the Indian National Congress. India's Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, took to Twitter to congratulate Modi.

To be clear, the election result has yet to be announced.

Investors cheered trends that pointed to a resounding victory for Modi and the BJP. The Nifty 50 traded up 0.71% after earlier jumping above the 12,000 mark while the Sensex gained 0.69%, coming off a previous high above 40,000. The Indian rupee traded at 69.50, strengthening from levels beyond 70.20.

"There would be increased expectations of economic reforms going forward, particularly in the areas of factors of production like labor and land," Sanjeev Prasad, senior executive director at Kotak Securities, told CNBC's "Street Signs " on Thursday. "The question is now whether some of the reforms can be delivered as easily as what the market would like to believe."

Prasad pointed out that Modi's government was unable to deliver some of the reforms in areas like land and labor during its previous term. "Let's see over the next few months, whether the government is in a position to deliver on those expectations."

Largest democratic exercise

More than 900 million people were eligible to vote in the polls that stretched over seven phases from April 11 to May 19. A record number of people had turned up to cast their ballot and voter participation was more than 67%, the Election Commission said, making it the largest-ever democratic exercise.

Exit polls have predicted a clear majority for Modi's BJP-led coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). According to local media, it is expected to win nearly, or above, 300 seats in India's lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha as it is known.

Out of 543 seats being contested in parliament, a party or a coalition will need at least 272 votes to form a government. On Thursday, votes from only 542 constituencies were being counted. Reports said polls in the Vellore constituency in the South had been cancelled. A new date has yet to be announced for elections there.

In this year's elections, political parties resorted to their "traditional play book of identity politics" to shore up support for their candidates, according to Pratyush Rao, associate director and lead analyst for India and South Asia at Control Risks.

"Political parties and key figures have, in recent weeks, spent more time hurling insults than debating policy proposals to tackle the country's challenges," he wrote in a note earlier this week.

Even if BJP appears dominant, analysts said that the party will still need the support of its allies within the coalition to pass politically contentious major reforms — such as amendments to India's land and labor laws, disinvestment policies and subsidy reforms.

They will "continue to require intra-party consultations and support from other allies in the NDA as well as from state governments, before coming to fruition," said Rao.

National security mandate

How Modi and the BJP fare at the polls will likely factor into his policy priorities.

If he comes back with a bigger mandate than what he had in the 2014 elections, it would be seen as an endorsement of his national security-focused campaign, according to Eurasia Group's South Asia analyst, Akhil Bery. That, he added, would likely affect Modi's foreign policy toward India's arch rival Pakistan.

Earlier this year, BJP's efforts to return to power looked to be on shaky grounds, especially after the party lost three key state elections in December. People across India have had mixed reactions to some of Modi's landmark economic reforms and policies. They include the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax and demonetization — where the government unexpectedly withdrew all its 500 and 1,000-rupee notes, and replaced them with 500 and 2,000-rupee denomination currencies.

Then, a terrorist attack in Kashmir, and India's subsequent response to it, shifted the momentum in Modi's favor.

"That reinvigorated the campaign and took the attention away from, quite frankly, the not-so-great economic record," Bery told CNBC's "Squawk Box " on Thursday.

"You had a slowing economy and also the leaked jobs report, which showed that India's unemployment rate was at a 45-year high. By shifting to national security, Prime Minister Modi was able to take attention away from those negative stories, " he added.

Still, Modi's government will likely have its work cut out: India's economy is slowing down, its shadow banking sector is in crisis, credit lending from banks is still relatively weak. More needs to be done to spur private investments so that the country doesn't only rely on consumption to grow, according to analysts.

"Modi 2.0 will inhabit the roles of both economic moderniser and economic populist, contrary to his supporters and critics who have often sought to characterise him as either one or the other," Control Risks' Rao wrote.

He added that Modi will likely continue with his efforts to streamline the GST while continuing to empower India's insolvency and bankruptcy code to tame the massive amounts of debts sitting in the banking sector — but he would not carry out a wholesale privatization of state-owned banks or loosen political control over lending decisions.

"At the same time, increased pressure over rural distress and unemployment will stoke Modi's economic populist instincts, which will likely see an increased focus on rural spending and handouts aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises," Rao said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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2019-05-23 06:56:15Z
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India started counting votes for its massive election. Modi is expected to win - CNBC

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Tolga Akmen | AFP | Getty Images

India's massive elections concluded earlier this week. The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. local time today and final results are expected thereafter.

According to the Election Commission of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) built up a significant lead over its main opposition, the Indian National Congress. To be clear, none of the seats have yet been called.

The Nifty 50 jumped 2.01% in morning trade while the Sensex was up 2.31% as investors cheered the early predictions in the vote count, which were favorable toward Modi. The Indian rupee traded at 69.50, strengthening from levels beyond 70.20.

"There would be increased expectations of economic reforms going forward, particularly in the areas of factors of production like labor and land," Sanjeev Prasad, senior executive director at Kotak Securities, told CNBC's "Street Signs " on Thursday. "The question is now whether some of the reforms can be delivered as easily as what the market would like to believe."

Prasad pointed out that Modi's government was unable to deliver some of the reforms in areas like land and labor during its previous term. "Let's see over the next few months, whether the government is in a position to deliver on those expectations."

Largest democratic exercise

More than 900 million people were eligible to vote in the polls that stretched over seven phases from April 11 to May 19. A record number of people had turned up to cast their ballot and voter participation was more than 67%, the Election Commission said, making it the largest-ever democratic exercise.

Exit polls have predicted a clear majority for Modi's BJP-led coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). According to local media, it is expected to win nearly, or above, 300 seats in India's lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha as it is known.

Out of 543 seats being contested in parliament, a party or a coalition will need at least 272 votes to form a government. On Thursday, votes from only 542 constituencies were being counted. Reports said polls in the Vellore constituency in the South had been cancelled. A new date has yet to be announced for elections there.

In this year's elections, political parties resorted to their "traditional play book of identity politics" to shore up support for their candidates, according to Pratyush Rao, associate director and lead analyst for India and South Asia at Control Risks.

"Political parties and key figures have, in recent weeks, spent more time hurling insults than debating policy proposals to tackle the country's challenges," he wrote in a note earlier this week.

Even if BJP appears dominant, analysts said that the party will still need the support of its allies within the coalition to pass politically contentious major reforms — such as amendments to India's land and labor laws, disinvestment policies and subsidy reforms.

They will "continue to require intra-party consultations and support from other allies in the NDA as well as from state governments, before coming to fruition," said Rao.

National security mandate

How Modi and the BJP fare at the polls will likely factor into his policy priorities.

If he comes back with a bigger mandate than what he had in the 2014 elections, it would be seen as an endorsement of his national security-focused campaign, according to Eurasia Group's South Asia analyst, Akhil Bery. That, he added, would likely affect Modi's foreign policy toward India's arch rival Pakistan.

Earlier this year, BJP's efforts to return to power looked to be on shaky grounds, especially after the party lost three key state elections in December. People across India have had mixed reactions to some of Modi's landmark economic reforms and policies. They include the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax and demonetization — where the government unexpectedly withdrew all its 500 and 1,000-rupee notes, and replaced them with 500 and 2,000-rupee denomination currencies.

Then, a terrorist attack in Kashmir, and India's subsequent response to it, shifted the momentum in Modi's favor.

"That reinvigorated the campaign and took the attention away from, quite frankly, the not-so-great economic record," Bery told CNBC's "Squawk Box " on Thursday.

"You had a slowing economy and also the leaked jobs report, which showed that India's unemployment rate was at a 45-year high. By shifting to national security, Prime Minister Modi was able to take attention away from those negative stories, " he added.

Still, Modi's government will likely have its work cut out: India's economy is slowing down, its shadow banking sector is in crisis, credit lending from banks is still relatively weak. More needs to be done to spur private investments so that the country doesn't only rely on consumption to grow, according to analysts.

"Modi 2.0 will inhabit the roles of both economic moderniser and economic populist, contrary to his supporters and critics who have often sought to characterise him as either one or the other," Control Risks' Rao wrote.

He added that Modi will likely continue with his efforts to streamline the GST while continuing to empower India's insolvency and bankruptcy code to tame the massive amounts of debts sitting in the banking sector — but he would not carry out a wholesale privatization of state-owned banks or loosen political control over lending decisions.

"At the same time, increased pressure over rural distress and unemployment will stoke Modi's economic populist instincts, which will likely see an increased focus on rural spending and handouts aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises," Rao said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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2019-05-23 06:02:47Z
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