Japan Herald: US born Muslim cleric urges more killings in US army ranks

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http://story.japanherald.com/index.p...d/638617/cs/1/

Muslim cleric urges killings in US army ranks

Japan Herald

Monday 24th May, 2010

US Muslim soldiers have been urged by a radical Yemeni cleric to follow the example of Major Nidal Hasan, who has been accused of killing 13 non-Muslim military personnel in the US army.

In an Internet video, Anwar al-Awlaqi, urged all Muslims serving in the army to "follow the path of Hasan."

The clip, posted by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and picked up by the US monitoring group SITE, features Anwar al-Awlaqi alleging Nidal Hasan was one of his students.

He said Hasan, who is of Palestinian origin, had been "defending his nation" when he allegedly killed American soldiers who were about to be posted to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Hasan, a US army psychiatrist, has been accused of killing thirteen army personnel at Fort Hood, Texas.

Calling the Fort Hood event a "wonderful" action, Awlaqi then defended Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student accused of a failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger plane with explosives last Christmas.

The US-born cleric said that the targeting of American civilians was also justified, because they had "elected this government."

US President Barack Obama's administration has authorised the targeted killing of Awlaqi, who is still believed to be in Yemen.

Yemen is also the ancestral homeland of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.