US-born radical Islamic cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, in a new video has warned of new attacks against Americans home and abroad.
The White House immediately termed him as a murderous thug.
“The US President will continue to take action directly at terrorists like Awlaki and keep our country safe from their murderous thugs,” the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, told the CBS news in an interview soon after a new video of Awlaki appeared. “We are actively trying to find him and many others throughout the world that seek to do our country and to do our interests great harm,” Mr Gibbs said.
“I think Awlaki is, despite telling the world he’s a cleric, you see on a videotape that he supports Al Qaeda’s agenda of murder and violence,” he added.
“In fact, in recent videotapes, he’s said he’s a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who has an agenda just like Al Qaeda to strike targets in Yemen, throughout the world, including here in US,” Mr Gibbs said. In his latest video, produced by the media wing of Al Qaeda, Awlaki praised Maj. Nidal Hasan, the US Army psychiatrist charged in the November massacre at Fort Hood, Texas.