U.S.-born cleric urges Muslims to kill U.S. civilians

CAIRO - A U.S.-born cleric who has encouraged Muslims to kill American soldiers called for the killing of U.S. civilians in his first video released by a Yemeni offshoot of al-Qaida, providing the most overt link yet between the radical preacher and the terror group.

Dressed in a white Yemeni robe, turban and with a traditional jambiyah dagger tucked into his waistband, Anwar al-Awlaki used the 45-minute video posted Sunday to justify civilian deaths, and encourage them, by accusing the United States of killing a million Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

American civilians are to blame, he said, because "the American people, in general, are taking part in this and they elected this administration and they are financing the war."

"Those who might be killed in a plane are merely a drop of water in a sea," he said in the video in response to a question about Muslim groups that disapproved of the airliner plot because it targeted civilians.

Al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico and is believed to be hiding in his parents' native Yemen, has used his personal website to encourage Muslims around the world to kill U.S. troops in Iraq.

He has emerged as a prominent al-Qaida recruiter and has been tied by U.S. intelligence to the 9/11 hijackers, the suspect in the November shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, Army base, and the December attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. jetliner.

For U.S. officials, al-Awlaki is of particular concern because he is one of the few English-speaking radical clerics able to explain to young Muslims in America and other Western countries the philosophy of violent jihad.

Al-Awlaki's direct role in al-Qaida, if any, remains unclear.

The United States says he is an active participant in the group, though members of his tribe have denied that.

Yesterday's video provides the clearest link yet between the cleric and the terror group. It was produced by al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula's media arm, which touted the recording as its first interview with al-Awlaki. It may also indicate al-Qaida is trying to seize upon al-Awlaki's recruiting prowess by featuring him in its videos.

In the video, al-Awlaki praised the alleged Fort Hood attacker, U.S. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Detroit suspect, and referred to them as his "students."