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An American Taliban fighter held captive by Marines in Afghanistan has told investigators that the Al Qaeda plans to make a biological attack on the United States at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, which ends on Sunday.
John Walker Lindh made the statement in intelligence debriefings at the US Marine Corps base near Kandahar, the Washington Times reported.
The Ramzan attack will be the "third phase" of the Al Qaeda's war on the US and will result in the destruction of the entire country, Lindh said.
Lindh was born of American parents and raised in his youth as a Roman Catholic. But he converted to Islam, joined a madrassa in Pakistan to learn Quran and later became a jihadi. Later, he went to Afghanistan and joined the Taliban.
US officials said they have questioned the credibility of Lindh's statements because of his low-level position in the Al Qaeda.
Still, the information he provided was among other intelligence reports that led the Bush administration to issue a public warning last week about a possible terrorist attack.
General Richard B Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said on Sunday that Lindh "has been pretty close to the action, and he has provided from the Afghan perspective some useful information. I think the evidence is pretty strong that he was right in the middle of it".
Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters that the American provided information that had been "very helpful" to the US, including information on the prisoner uprising at Mazar-e-Sharif that led to the death of Central Intelligence Agency officer Johnny "Mike" Spann.
PTI
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