Anwar Al-Awlaki, 39, is one of the most prominent English-language radical clerics and his sermons advocating jihad, or holy war, against the United States have influenced militants involved in several attacks or attempted attacks on US soil. Yemeni officials say he may have blessed the recent mail bomb plot, though he may not have taken an active part in it.
In his 23-minute message in Arabic, Al-Awlaki said because all Americans are the enemy, clerics don’t need to issue any special fatwas or religious rulings allowing them to be killed. He was dressed in a traditional Yemeni white robe and a turban and wore round spectacles and a dagger while he sat behind a desk.
“Don’t consult with anybody in killing the Americans,” he said. “Fighting the devil doesn’t require consultation or prayers seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils,” he added. It is “either us or them.”
Al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, has used his website and English-language sermons to encourage Muslims around the world to kill US troops in Iraq and has been tied by US intelligence to the 9/11 hijackers and to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas last year with explosives hidden in his underwear.
He was also in contact with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in November at the Fort Hood, Texas military base.
US investigators say since he returned to Yemen in 2006, Al-Awlaki has moved beyond just inspiring militants to becoming an active operative in Al-Qaeda’s affiliate there.
