Yemeni Cleric: Kill US Citizens

New al-Qaeda video features US-born cleric
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 23, 2010 8:50 AM CDT
Yemeni Cleric: Kill US Citizens
This Oct. 2008 file of Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. Al-Awlaki is advocating the killing of American civilians in a new al-Qaeda video posted Sunday, May 23, 2010.   (AP Photo/Muhammad ud-Deen, File)

American-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have inspired the Fort Hood shooter and would-be underwear bomber, is advocating the killing of American civilians in an al-Qaeda video released today. "The American people, in general, are taking part in this and they elected this administration and they are financing the war," he said. The US-born al-Awlaki is on the CIA's assassination list, despite his US citizenship; the White House responded that it is actively hunting "murderous thugs" like al-Awlaki.

Al-Awlaki used the 45-minute video to justify civilian deaths—and encourage them—by accusing the United States of intentionally killing a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Speaking of Nidal Hasan, the cleric said, "What he did was heroic and great. ... I ask every Muslim serving in the US Army to follow suit." (More Anwar al-Awlaki stories.)

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