Global General

Al-Qaida cleric: Yemen to be Obama's Afghanistan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-20 02:19

This Oct 2008 file photo shows Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. [Agencies]

CAIRO - A US-born, al-Qaida-linked cleric warned the American people that President Barack Obama will mire US forces in Yemen just as Afghanistan, in a message appearing Monday on militant websites.

The 13-minute audio message, in English, comes just days after the US Treasury department put Anwar al-Awlaki on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

"If George W. Bush is remembered as being the president who got America stuck in Afghanistan and Iraq, it's looking like Obama wants to be remembered as the president who got America stuck in Yemen," he said.

The message appeared with Arabic subtitles over still photos of al-Awlaki and accused Fort Hood shooter, US Army Maj. Nidal Hassan, and the accused would-be Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Al-Awlaki, who is on the run in Yemen, is believed to have had contacts with the accused bomber in the Christmas Day attempt to bomb a US airliner.

In the audio message, al-Awlaki mocked US efforts to combat al-Qaida in Yemen, saying its strikes were only sending recruits streaming to the terror group and had "accomplished for them (al-Qaida) the work of years."

He added that the Yemeni government, which the US is supporting with millions in military aid, was swindling the Obama administration.

Al-Awlaki began the message by highlighting the inconvenient new airport security measures in the United States brought on by its wars against Muslims and said they still could not keep people safe and he predicted America's demise.

"Imperial hubris is leading America to its fate: a war of attrition, a continuous hemorrhage that would end with the fall and splintering of the United States of America," he said.

Related readings:  Al-Qaida leader captured in Iraq's Diyala  Al-Qaida linked suspects targeted Norway - police  Officials: 3 arrested in Norway al-Qaida bomb plot  Al-Qaida in Yemen vows more attacks

Born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki, 39, is not perceived by American officials as a major tactical terror leader on par with al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden. But his role as an inspirational exhorter for al-Qaida's cause and his growing involvement in plots aimed at the US has made him a prime target in the effort to counter the militant movement.

Six months ago the US government put al-Awlaki on a secret list of targets to be captured or killed, according to US officials.

Despite ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers and the Fort Hood gunman, al-Awlaki has avoided terrorism charges over the years because he never crossed the line into being an active member of al-Qaida -- someone who recruits and trains terrorists and plots attacks on the US.

But that changed with his involvement with Abdulmutallab, the young recruit to al-Qaida's nascent Yemen branch, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.