Posted on 12/30/2009 2:26:47 AM PST by Scanian
The radical Yemeni-based cleric connected to two violent plots in the U.S. has "gone operational," a senior U.S. official told Fox News, suggesting Anwar al-Awlaki is becoming an increasingly significant figure in Arabian Peninsula terror networks.
Al-Awlaki was thought to have been killed in an air strike by Yemeni forces last week, but that is now unconfirmed. The senior U.S. official told Fox News that the cleric, an American citizen now living in Yemen, had previously been devoted to "propaganda and spiritual guidance," but went operational in the past year.
This comes as a U.S. intelligence official told The Washington Times that al-Awlaki personally blessed 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s Christmas attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger jet.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.