Radical cleric calls for killing Americans

CAIRO -- A U.S.-born radical cleric who belongs to the al-Qaida offshoot behind the cargo bomb plot on the United States told Muslims they are free to kill American "devils" at will in a video posted on extremist websites Monday.

Anwar al-Awlaki's vitriolic sermons have inspired several attacks against the United States, and Yemeni officials say he may have given his blessing to the mail bomb plot even if he did not take an active part in it. The al-Qaida branch in Yemen, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the foiled bomb plot.

In past messages, al-Awlaki has justified killing American civilians as retaliation for the killing of hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. But this appeared to be an escalation, with the 39-year-old cleric arguing that no rationale was needed to seek out and kill Americans.

"Don't consult with anybody in killing the Americans," al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, said in the 23-minute video.

In the video, Al-Awlaki accused the United States of pouring money into Yemen to encourage Yemenis to shun their religion.

U.S. investigators say that 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.

Short excerpts from the al-Awlaki video were released on Oct. 23, two weeks before the mail bombs were uncovered. But this was the first full posting of the video.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press last week that military aid to Yemen would double to $250 million in 2011 to help the country fight al-Qaida. The White House is seeking greater cooperation on intelligence sharing with the Yemeni government and more opportunities to train Yemeni counterterrorism teams in the aftermath of the failed mail bomb plot, a senior administration official said Sunday.

Al-Awlaki also attacked rulers in the Arab world, describing them as corrupt, and he called on religious scholars to declare them "non-Muslims" for betraying the Muslim people.

"Kings, emirs, and presidents are now not qualified to lead the nation, or even a flock of sheep," he said. "If the leaders are corrupt, the scholars have the responsibility to lead the nation."

He added that these leaders would have to be removed for the Muslim people to move forward.

The only way Muslims can protect themselves from the threat of the infidels is by supporting the "mujahedeen," he said.

"If we support the mujahedeen, we will win it all and if we let them down, we will lose it all," he said.