'American Taliban' sues for prison prayer

U.S. Muslim convert and terror detainee John Lindh is suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to allow communal prayer in his Indiana prison, his lawyer said. Lindh, who has been called the "American Taliban," wants to pray with fellow Muslims in the Communications Management Unite, a secret prison facility, in Terre Haute, NPR reported Monday. "They can sit around and talk about politics or football or whatever philosophy," said Ken Falk, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union who's representing Lindh. "The one thing they're not allowed to do is pray together for their daily prayers, which many Muslims believe is required or at least strongly preferred." The Federal Bureau of Prisons said communal prayers would pose a security threat and could ignite violence against Muslims by prisoners of other faiths. U.S. authorities detained Lindh in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. He had been allegedly fighting alongside the Taliban. He has seven years left to serve on a 20-year prison sentence. Lindh grew up in Northern California and converted to Islam as an adult.