Anwar al-Awlaki said since all Americans are the enemy, clerics don't need to issue any special fatwas or religious rulings allowing them to be killed.Yemeni officials have been unable to track him down and he's seen as being one of the key spiritual leaders in al Qaeda's worldwide movement. They've put him on trial in absentia, but that will do nothing to stem his calls for worldwide jihad.
"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."
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.
U.S. investigators say since he returned to Yemen in 2006, al-Awlaki has moved beyond just inspiring militants to becoming an active operative in al-Qaida's affiliate there.
At the same time, his latest video serves notice that fatwas are not needed to fight the US.
Meanwhile, Canadian papers are reporting that Awlaki was welcomed into the UK in 2002 despite US authorities investigating his role in the 9/11 attacks:
Awlaki was fleeing an FBI inquiry in America in the wake of his involvement with three of the Sept 11 hijackers, when he arrived in Britain in late 2002.Awlaki's specialty is recruitment and spiritual guidance, and the two go hand in hand.
But even with such a cloud over him, he was "welcomed with open arms," according to Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, from the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College, London, who is an expert on Awlaki. The controversial cleric lectured for the Muslim Association of Britain, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, and the Islamic Forum Europe, based at East London Mosque.
He began a "grand tour" of Britain, from London to Aberdeen, as part of a campaign by the Muslim Association of Britain.
While in Britain, Awlaki was working on a lecture series called Constants in the Path of Jihad, which he produced in 2005, a few months after being banned from the country. But it was only with the Fort Hood shootings in Texas by Major Nidal Hasan, a disciple of Awlaki, in November last year, that British Islamic organisations began to distance themselves from him.
YouTube has finally pulled a bunch of videos proffered by Awlaki, but Awlaki continues spreading his message of hate online.
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