Former Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl to face court martial on desertion charge

Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. Army Sergeant and former Taliban prisoner, is to be tried by court martial on charges of desertion and endangering U.S. troops.

He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the more serious offence of endangering U.S. troops.

The 29-year-old was held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan for five years before being swapped for five Taliban leaders in a prisoner exchange.

U.S. military prosecutors said in a preliminary hearing in September that Bergdahl deliberately left his post.

The prosecutors said he launched a plan weeks in the making, and there was sufficient evidence to hold him for trial.

Bergdahl went missing in 2009, and an official search lasted 45 days, although the United States spent years trying to determine his whereabouts.

Major General Kenneth Dahl, who led the military's investigation of Bergdahl's disappearance and capture, testified at the hearing in September that Bergdahl was not a Taliban sympathizer and recommended that he serve no prison time. Dahl characterized Bergdahl as an unrealistically idealistic soldier who left his post to report concerns about his unit's leadership to a general at another base.

In his first public comments since his release from Taliban captivity, Bergdahl said in a 'Serial' podcast that he left his post in Afghanistan to draw attention to "leadership failure" in his unit.

The U.S. Army Forces Command said the date of the arraignment hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will be announced at a later date.