JOIN USAnwar al-Awlaki, wanted dead or alive by US authorities, is a leading figure linked to al Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing. He is believed to be on the run in the impoverished Gulf Arab state.
“Muslims should object to what’s going on either verbally or by physical action,” Awlaki said in the 45-minute interview posted on an Islamist website.
Awlaki praised the actions of US Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan who shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood, a Texas army base, in November.
“Nidal was my student... I’m proud of Nidal Hasan and this was a heroic act,” he said, adding: “Who can object to what he did? He killed soldiers on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Hasan had sent emails to the cleric but they were intercepted by US intelligence agencies and examined by US joint terrorism task forces.
“If the situation remains we will see new Nidal Hasans appearing,” Awlaki said in the tape. “These American soldiers on their way to Afghanistan and Iraq, we will kill them.”
Asked by an interviewer if killing US soldiers would have a negative impact on Muslims in the United States, Awlaki said defending Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan was a larger priority. “Is protecting the reputation of Muslims in America more important than bombs dropping on millions of Muslims elsewhere?”