<p>Anwar 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.<br /><br />“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. <br />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.<br /><br />“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.”<br /><br />Hasan had sent emails to the cleric but they were intercepted by US intelligence agencies and examined by US joint terrorism task forces.<br /><br />“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.”<br />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?”</p>
<p>Anwar 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.<br /><br />“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. <br />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.<br /><br />“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.”<br /><br />Hasan had sent emails to the cleric but they were intercepted by US intelligence agencies and examined by US joint terrorism task forces.<br /><br />“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.”<br />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?”</p>