CIA paid Danish Muslim convert $250,000 to hunt al-Awlaki using ‘European bride’

A Danish ex-biker and Muslim convert claims he was paid $250,000 by the CIA in exchange for recruiting a European bride as part of an intricate plot to kill al-Qaeda member, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Telegraph reported.

The Danish man, Morten Storm, acted as matchmaker for al-Awlaki, the U.S.-raised al-Qaeda spokesman, and a woman from Zagreb, Croatia, called Aminah.

The story is being treated as plausible due to a video recording, exchanged by al-Awlaki and his bride-to-be that was given to the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten by Storm.

Text messages, a photograph of a suitcase filled with dollar bills and travel receipts were also provided to the Danish newspaper.

Al-Awlaki is seen as one of al-Qaeda’s top propaganda advisors. He was killed in a CIA drone strike in September of last year in Yemen. The attack followed Washington’s accusation of al-Awalki’s involvement in numerous terror plots.

Storm claims that the CIA and the Danish intelligence service, the PET, were prepared to sacrifice the life of the 32-year-old Muslim convert Aminah, in their pursuit of al-Awlaki.

However, according to a report in the Telegraph, the scheme to trap the al-Qaeda member by using his new wife failed. According to the UK based news provider, Aminah currently resides in Yemen, and allegedly works for a Jihadist magazine called “Inspire.”

During the pursuit of his third wife, al-Awlaki was already married with two wives by the time Storm united the couple in 2009.