Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected Wednesday a bid to commute the sentence of John Walker Lindh, an American caught fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Lindh pled guilty in 2002, and received a 20-year prison sentence. Lindh's attorney, who negotiated the original plea bargain, said the deal should be reconsidered in light of the government's release of Yaser Esam Hamdi, another US-born Taliban soldier.

Speaking from The Hague during a visit to the Netherlands, Ashcroft said, "Lindh was fully adjudicated and had his opportunity in court to state his position, and the system operated to provide a punishment for his activities, which were clear and unmistakable." Only President Bush can commute Lindh's sentence. AP has more.