Anwar Awlaki New Interview in Al Jazeera
In a new piece at al Jazeera (Arabic), Yemeni expert on Islamic groups Abdul Elah Shayer interviews Anwar Awlaki, Yemeni-American al Qaeda propagandist.
In the interview Awlaki says Nidal Hassan inquired by email specifically about the Islamic legitimacy of killing US soldiers. Awlaki also seems to be trying to distance himself from a charge of material support. Excerpts from the Aljazeera.net interview with Awlaqi below the fold.
Care of MEMRI,
Question: “What is your connection with Nidal Hasan, and when did it begin?”
Answer: “Nidal Hasan prayed at my mosque when I was imam at the Dar Al-Hijra mosque.”
Q: “When was your first meeting?”
A: “About nine years ago, when I was imam of the Dar Al-Hijra mosque in the capital Washington, a mosque which is one of the biggest Islamic centers in America.”
Q: “[There are] reports that there was more than that.”
A: “Brother Nidal used to contact me via email last year, until the middle of this year.”
Q: “When did the correspondence with Nidal begin?”
A: “I got the first message from Nidal on December 17, 2008.”
Q: “Who initiated the correspondence, you or him?”
A: “He initiated the correspondence with me.”
Q: “What did the correspondence contain?”
A: “He was asking about killing American soldiers and officers. [He asked] whether this is a religiously legitimate act or not.”
Q: “So he asked you that question about a year before the operation was carried out?”
A: “Yes. And I wondered how the American security agencies, who claim to be able to read car license plate numbers from space, everywhere in the world, I wondered how [they did not reveal this].”
Q: “What did Nidal want from you in his messages?”
A: “Naturally, as I told you, the first message was asking for an edict regarding the [possibility] of a Muslim soldier killing his colleagues who serve with him in the American army. In other messages, Nidal was clarifying his position regarding the killing of Israeli civilians. He was in support of this, and in his messages he mentioned the religious justifications for targeting the Jews with missiles. Then there were some messages in which he asked for a way through which he could transfer some funds to us [and by this] participate in charitable activities.”
Q: “There are other indications to your connections with Nidal, one of which is that you blessed what he did three days after he did it.”
A: “My support to the operation was because the operation that brother Nidal carried out was a courageous one, and I endeavored to explain my position regarding what happened because many Islamic organizations and preachers in the West condemned the operation. So it was necessary for me [to raise] a voice that is [myself] connected to the Muslims in America and the West, while at the same time is independent and explains the truth regarding what Nidal did, especially since the media tried to connect him to me from the very beginning.”
Q: “Why did you bless Nidal Hasan’s act?”
A: “Because Nidal’s target was a military target inside America, and there is no question about this. Then, also, those members of the military [i.e. the victims] were not regular soldiers; rather they were prepared and preparing themselves to go to battle and to kill downtrodden Muslims and to commit crimes in Afghanistan.”….
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