US cleric urges Muslims to kill American troops

A U.S.-born militant cleric has urged Muslims to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and vowed to step up attacks against the U.S. military, according to a videotape released on Sunday.

Anwar al-Awlaki, wanted dead or alive by U.S. authorities, is a leading figure linked to al-Qaeda's Yemen-based wing. He is believed to be on the run in the impoverished Gulf Arab state.

"Muslims should object to what's going on either verbally or by physical action," Awlaki said in the 45-minute interview posted on an Islamist website. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording.

Awlaki praised the actions of U.S. Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan who shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood, a Texas army base, in November.

"Nidal was my student ... I'm proud of Nidal Hasan and this was a heroic act," he said, adding: "Who can object to what he did? He killed soldiers on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan."

Hasan had sent emails to the cleric but they were intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies and examined by U.S. joint terrorism task forces.

"If the situation remains we will see new Nidal Hasans appearing," Awlaki said in the tape. "These American soldiers on their way to Afghanistan and Iraq, we will kill them."

In an interview with the Washington Post in November, Awlaqi said he had blessed the Fort Hood shooting, and that it was permissible under Islam because it was against a military target.

Awlaqi also defended Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student accused of a failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger plane with explosives last Christmas.

The operation "was very successful even though it did not even kill anyone," he said.

"Those who were to be killed in the plane are nothing compared to ... a million women and children in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan," whom he accused the U.S. military of having killed.

Nidal was my student ... I'm proud of Nidal Hasan and this was a heroic act

Anwar al-Awlaki

A larger priority

Asked by an interviewer if killing U.S. soldiers would have a negative impact on Muslims in the United States, Awlaki said defending Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan was a larger priority.

"Is protecting the reputation of Muslims in America more important than bombs dropping on millions of Muslims elsewhere?"

U.S. officials said in April that President Barack Obama's administration had authorized operations to capture or kill Awlaki.

Yemen has said it will not hand over Awlaki, whose family is well-known in Yemen, but instead put him on trial if he is arrested.