Yemen says Nigerian may have met radical cleric (309 hits)
SAN'A, Yemen – The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a U.S. passenger plane on Christmas may have met with a radical American-Yemeni cleric linked to al-Qaida and the alleged Fort Hood shooter to prepare for the failed attack, Yemen's deputy prime minister said Thursday.
Rashad al-Alimi, the deputy prime minister for defense and security, said 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab met with al-Qaida members in a remote area far from any population center in the Yemeni province of Shabwa in the months before the attack. He said he believed that place is connected to the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. "There is no doubt that he met and had contacts with al-Qaida elements in Shabwa, ... perhaps with al-Awlaki," al-Alimi told reporters. "I believe this place is indeed associated with Anwar al-Awlaki," he added...
Al-Awlaki, born in the United States to Yemeni parents and now in hiding in Yemen, is an influential cleric among al-Qaida sympathizers, known for his sermons extolling jihad, or holy war, against the U.S. His role is generally seen as an ideologue who gives religious advice and rulings, but he is suspected of having a role in recruiting for al-Qaida or helping in its relations with Yemeni tribes.
Yemeni security forces have arrested a number of al-Qaida members who had contact with Abdulmutallab, the deputy prime minister said, without identifying them. "We are pursing many of many of these elements that are connected to this subject. Some of these elements have been killed, others have been arrested and are being investigated. We will announce the results of these investigations later."
Al-Alimi claimed Abdulmutallab was first recruited by al-Qaida when he lived in London from 2005-2008. "During the period he was living in Britain, I believe he was recruited by radical groups in Britain," he told reporters...
