American Taliban Refused to Answer CIA Agents’ Questions, Video Shows

Despite a kick in the stomach and the threat of death, John Walker Lindh, the captured American Taliban fighter, refused to say a word to two CIA interrogators, including Johnny “Mike” Spann--who just hours later became the first U.S. combat fatality in Afghanistan.

In a dramatic, seven-minute videotape shot Nov. 25 by an amateur Afghan cameraman, Spann and another agent identified only as Dave are shown trying to question Lindh, warning him that the only way he can save his life is to cooperate.

A few hours later, Spann himself was killed by Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners who rose up against their Northern Alliance captors at a prison near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The tape was made during the morning interrogation of some of the hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda captives. Spann, 32, a former Marine officer, is shown singling out Lindh from a row of prisoners.

“Hey, you,” Spann said, according to a transcript posted on Newsweek magazine’s Web site. “Right here with your head down. Look at me. I know you speak English. Look at me. Where did you get the British military sweater?”

When Lindh did not answer, Spann walked away, leaving the prisoner with several Northern Alliance soldiers who tightened the ropes binding his elbows behind him. One kicked him in the stomach.

Lindh was then forced to sit cross-legged on a blanket in the prison courtyard, his arms still tied. Spann squatted on the blanket and tried again: “Where are you from? . . . You believe in what you’re doing here that much, you’re willing to be killed here? How were you recruited to come here? Who brought you here?”

When Lindh remained silent, Spann snapped his fingers in front of Lindh’s face. Still no response.

The agent identified as Dave then approached Spann and Lindh. Standing where the prisoner could easily hear their conversation, Dave told Spann: “The problem is, he’s got to decide if he wants to live or die and die here. We’re just going to leave him and he’s going to . . . sit in prison for the rest of his . . . short life. It’s his decision. We can only help the guys who want to talk to us.”

After that, Spann and Dave seemed to lose interest in Lindh, who was pulled to his feet by a Northern Alliance guard and taken back to a group of prisoners.

The tape ends at that point. A few hours later, Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners began throwing hand grenades and seizing guards’ rifles. By the time the insurrection was put down, most of the prisoners were dead. Lindh survived and is now in U.S. military custody.

In an unusual deal, ABC News and CBS News teamed up to buy exclusive broadcast rights to the videotape.

The two news organizations, which were tipped off to the existence of the video by a Newsweek report, paid a combined $80,000 for the rights, which had been eagerly bid on by other TV news operations, including NBC. One person familiar with the deal said NBC had been unwilling to pay more than about $25,000 for the tape.

ABC and CBS, which have been sharing satellite equipment in Afghanistan and have discussed a broader arrangement to share bureau space and other news-gathering costs elsewhere in the world, split the costs of the video, which both networks showed on their morning and evening newscasts Friday and posted on their Web sites.

CBS entered into the deal because the video was “expensive,” said a CBS News spokeswoman, adding that “we thought that the value of the video was pretty significant.”

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Times staff writer Elizabeth Jensen in New York contributed to this report.