Fridae

American Taliban member John Walker who was captured in Afghanistan fighting with the Taliban may have turned to Islam for answers during his parents' divorce and his father's decision to move in with another man, according to San Francisco Chronicle gossip columnist P.J. Corkery.

The teen who was captured by US forces after a bloody prison uprising at a fortress in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif this month shocked his countrymen by saying he served with Arab fighters financed by Osama bin Laden and that he attended a training camp run by the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"When Frank Lindh [Walker's father] left his family in 1997, it was to move in with a male companion," Corkery wrote. "The man with whom Lindh lived has since been described as "a family friend," but other family friends say the men lived as a gay couple."

Sources close to the family told Corkery that the move flustered Walker and may have likely been a contributing factor to his turn to Islam and eventually Osama bin Laden.

"It would take a specialist in family issues to map the constellations of feelings and problems that would describe John Walker's path toward Islam in 1997, but sources close to the family say the father's turn of life from married man to modern gay man startled and flustered the 16-year-old," he adds.

Walker who declined using his father?s last name reportedly discovered Islam at age 15 and started with exploring mosques in the wealthy suburbs north of San Francisco where he lived with his homemaker mother and attorney father. Walker left the US in 1998 for Yemen to study Arabic with his parents' blessing.

While the US authorities have not made a final decision, the teen could face charges for providing support to terrorists, which carries a 15-year sentence, or life imprisonment, if his support resulted in a death. He could also be charged with treason, which carries a maximum sentence of death.