CAIRO – A United States born Islamic cleric linked to attacks by al-Qaida in Yemen on United States targets called for Muslims around the world to kill Americans in a new video posted on extremist websites yesterday.
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 United States soil.
Yemeni officials say he may have blessed the recent mail bomb plot, though he may not have taken an active part in it.
Al-Awlaki has in past messages encouraged Muslims to murder American soldiers and justified the killings of American civiliansby accusing the United States of intentionally killing a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. But this message appeared stronger, arguing that no justification was needed.
Religious rulings
In his 23-minute message delivered in Arabic, al-Awlaki said because all Americansare 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 garb – a white robe, turban and a sheathed dagger tucked into his waistband – and wore round spectacles while sitting 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 United States troops in Iraq and has been tied by United States 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.
