US-born Yemeni preacher calls for Muslims to kill US citizens

Nov 8, 2010, 17:03 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - The radical Yemeni preacher Anwar al-Awlaki on Monday called on Muslims to kill US citizens, dubbing them in a new video the 'devil's party.'

'Do not consult with anybody in killing the Americans,' said the US-born al-Awlaki, who is wanted by Washington over links to terrorist attacks.

'Fighting the devil does not need a fatwa (religious edict) or consultation - they are the devil's party,' he said in the 23-minute Arabic-language video posted on radical Islamist websites.

US officials accuse al-Awlaki of being a leader in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) - the Yemeni wing of the global Islamist group.

AQAP is believed to be behind several key attacks, including the recent air cargo bombs sent to the United States.

Previous incidents attributed to the group include a failed attempt to blow up an airplane over Detroit last Christmas Day and the killings of 13 people last year at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas.

Last week, Yemeni prosecutors charged al-Awlaki with inciting the killing of foreigners. He is being tried in absentia along with a co- defendant, also on the run, accused of killing a Frenchman.

The preacher is said to be hiding in a tribal area in the southern Yemeni province of Shabwa.

Yemeni security forces have launched a massive operation to hunt down al-Awlaki and also capture a Saudi Arabian fugitive named Ibrahim al-Asiri, said to be a bomb-maker.

Al-Awlaki was earlier this year put on a list of suspected terrorists whom the CIA is authorized to kill. He has eluded at least one strike by Yemeni forces.

An impoverished country located at the south-western tip of the Arabian peninsula, Yemen has come under immense pressure from the US and other powers to tackle al-Qaeda after the resurgence of the group in recent years in the form of AQAP.

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