A U.S.-born radical Yemeni cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, linked to previous attacks on the U.S. called for Muslims around world to kill Americans in a new video message posted on radical websites Monday. In the 23-minute Arabic language message entitled “Make it known and clear to mankind,” al-Awlaki said that for Americans and Muslims it was “either us or them.”
Born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki has used his website and English-language sermons to encourage Muslims around the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq and has been tied by U.S. intelligence to the 9/11 hijackers, underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as well as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in November at Fort Hood, Texas.
“Don’t consult with anybody in killing the Americans, fighting the devil doesn’t require consultation or prayers seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils,” he said. “We are two opposites who will never come together.” Al-Awlaki also attacked rulers in the Arab world, particularly Yemen, describing them as corrupt and he called on religious scholars to declare them “non-Muslims” for betraying the Muslim people.
