US says Californian may be in al Qaeda threat video
Reuters ^ | 10 Nov 2004
Posted on 11/09/2004 10:07:55 PM EST by yonif
WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials are confident, but not certain, the English-speaking man who threatened new al Qaeda attacks in a videotape obtained by ABC News is a missing Californian named Adam Gadahn, ABC reported reported on Tuesday.
After weeks of technical analysis, officials have concluded with a high degree of confidence that the speaker identified on the videotape as "Assam the America" is Gadahn, who left California for Pakistan six years ago, ABC reported.
The CIA referred calls to the FBI. An FBI spokesman said he had no information on the reported identification.
ABC obtained the videotape in Pakistan last month and broadcast it on Oct. 28. In the portions of the tape shown, the speaker, whose face was cloaked, said he is a follower of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The speaker vowed new attacks worse than those of Sept. 11, 2001.
Officials concluded the speaker was Gadahn after examining the tape, speaking to his family, and showing the tape to captured al Qaeda operatives, ABC reported.
U.S. officials said there is still no legal certainty that the person in the videotape is Gadahn, but his parents have reluctantly agreed it is likely their son, ABC reported.
Gadahn, now 26, converted to Islam at age 17 and attended a mosque in Orange County, California, according to ABC. The director of the mosque told the network he also recognized the voice on the tape as Adam Gadahn's and reported it to the FBI.
In May, FBI Director Robert Mueller named Gadahn as one of seven people being sought in connection with possible terrorist threats in the United States. He said Gadahn was associated with al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan.
Gadahn's parents said they last heard from him in a telephone call from Karachi a few months after the Sept. 11 attacks, ABC reported.
Gadahn, born Adam Pearlman and raised in Riverside County, California, is the son of a 1960s psychedelic musician who changed the family name, ABC said.
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I feared this would be the outcome after all the naysaying. I bet he is the 'lead' on whatever plot is underway. The first 19 (heavily Saudi) sent us the message that our oil-ally is not our friend. An American carrying out an attack against fellow Americans, that would be a bold statement from al Qaida.