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Author Topic: Shooting at Ft. Hood Texas 11/05/09 13 dead, 43 wounded-(Murder Charges)  (Read 730141 times)
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« Reply #1060 on: January 08, 2010, 08:21:51 PM »


Zarein Ahmedzay was one of two men arrested in Queens on Friday.

Zarein Ahmedzay pleads not guilty to Zazi terror plot, second suspect Medunjanin 'not cooperating'
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/01/08/2010-01-08_fbi_arrests_two_in_new_york_adis_medunjanin_zarein_ahmedzay_in_ongoing_zazi_terr.html


2 Men Arrested in Connection With Zazi Terror Inquiry
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/nyregion/09zazi.html


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« Reply #1061 on: January 08, 2010, 08:38:55 PM »

Failure Linking Ft. Hood Dots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtocM3ccPE
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« Reply #1062 on: January 08, 2010, 08:44:33 PM »

Security changes at Ft. Hood
New policies in place to prevent another tragedy

Updated: Friday, 08 Jan 2010, 7:27 PM EST
Published : Friday, 08 Jan 2010, 6:16 PM EST

KILLEEN, TEXAS (KXAN) - Fort Hood announced big changes in security as well as the mental health system in response to the mass shooting on Nov. 5 that left 13 dead.

After a 40-day review of security, there are some major policy changes. If a person wants to bring a weapon to Fort Hood, it has to be registered and proof of that registration must be shown. That is just one of 12 specific changes and some of those changes not being publicly released.

"There's a lot more vehicle checks now," said Sergeant Latoya Dorsey. "Sometimes they check everybody's IDs but the security is definitely beefed up."

Barrack leaders are now having to document health and welfare checks. Also, Fort Hood has implemented a training program similar to one used during the Cold War to identify spies.

"This is a modern version of that program that says what would be the key indicators of radicalization,” said Lt. General Robert Cone.

They have also added armed guards at a number of facilities on post, changed hours that gates are open and increased patrols. However, Cone said even before the changes - since the shooting rampage - crimes on and near post are significantly down. They have also launched a behavioral-health campaign plan to track signs of post traumatic stress disorder.

"We can use this as an opportunity to reach out to people who might be on the fringe that we hadn't got to before,” said Cone.

They are also making all of the 848 people who were directly impacted by the shootings to take part in a two-year assessment process. However, Ft. Hood is short 40 mental health professionals and is working to recruit replacements.

Meanwhile, the Soldier Readiness Center is still an active crime scene and no one is allowed inside. Plans are in the works now to build a new center.

“I don’t think it's probably anywhere anybody will probably want to got to work in," said Cone. "I think we'll probably use it for storage."

Cone added a memorial for the fallen soldiers is also in the works, however, they are just in the beginning stages of fundraising and planning.

Of the 31 surviving shooting victims, only one is still in the hospital, listed in fair condition. However, he has lost an arm and has head trauma from the shooting rampage.

Cone held a media conference Friday announcing the status of investigation. Major Nidal Malik Hasan is the suspect in the shooting and Lt. Gen Cone said the court marshal process is still a long way off from being complete.

"As of now, Colonel Lamb has directed a sanity board be conducted, and he is awaiting the results of that process,” said Cone.

Hasan's attorney claims his client’s freedoms are being violated - something an Army Legal Officer said will be investigated.

http://www.wlfi.com/dpps/military/army/kxan-security-changes-at-ft-hood-_3181999
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« Reply #1063 on: January 08, 2010, 08:57:10 PM »


Fort Hood lunch with general discussing new security measures (Mark Batchelder/KXAN)

Video: Security changes at Ft. Hood

http://www.wlfi.com/dpps/military/army/kxan-security-changes-at-ft-hood-_3181999
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« Reply #1064 on: January 08, 2010, 09:04:04 PM »



Task force to probe recent security failures

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former top CIA official John McLaughlin was named on Friday to head a task force to examine why the United States failed to prevent the December 25 airplane attack and the November shootings at Fort Hood and to make recommendations for reform.

U.S.

"John McLaughlin is especially well-qualified to lead an independent assessment in this area and provide candid, constructive guidance to improve our future performance," U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said in a statement.

On Thursday President Barack Obama took ultimate responsibility for security failures that led to the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner and ordered reforms aimed at thwarting future attacks.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian linked to a Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda, is accused of attempted murder and attempted use of a "weapon of mass destruction" to blow up the Detroit-bound passenger jet with almost 300 people on board.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim born in the United States, is charged with killing 13 people and wounding dozens in the November 5 rampage at the Fort Hood Army base in central Texas ahead of his deployment to Afghanistan.

McLaughlin was the CIA's deputy director from 2000 to 2004, with a brief stint as acting director during his last year.

He will lead a group of national security experts to examine the sequence of events leading up to the bombing attack and the shooting and to propose how to correct "potential weaknesses" in intelligence systems and procedures the incidents exposed, Blair's statement said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Xavier Briand)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60803Z20100109
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« Reply #1065 on: January 09, 2010, 08:42:22 PM »

A Closer Look: Fort Hood two months later

by GLORIA CAMPOS / WFAA-TV

Posted on January 9, 2010 at 4:22 PM
******

FORT HOOD, Texas ― It's been two months since investigators say Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood killing 13 people and injuring dozens more.

The commanding general, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, said armed guards are now stationed in several different places on post, including the mental hospital.

There are more random searches at security gates, and Fort Hood has stepped up its gun registration policy since the shootings.

Preventive measures are also in place.

A two year mental health program has been started for 850 soldiers, family members and others directly affected by the shootings. It will also be used for soldiers being deployed or returning from war zones overseas.

Next month, military doctors will determine Hasan's mental status on the day of the shootings and see if he is competent to stand trial.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/DRAFT-Closer-Look-Ft-Hood-81053552.html

Video:   http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/DRAFT-Closer-Look-Ft-Hood-81053552.html
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« Reply #1066 on: January 09, 2010, 08:59:44 PM »

Rep Sue Myrick Warns Of Homegrown Terrorism, Ft. Hood Jihad Explained

January 9, 2010 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - In a new YouTube video, Representative Sue Myrick [R-NC] draws attention to the rising danger of homegrown terrorism, domestic jihad.

About the threat she stated, "...but there is one challenge that you haven't been hearing about, because your government hasn't been informing you and that's the rise of homegrown radical extremism in our country. The Ft. Hood shooting brought it back into focus."

Congresswoman Myrick relied upon 4 respected terrorism experts to provide expertise in helping her understand the matter in depth, including Steven Emerson and Walid Phares.

Below, the video.

Fort Hood - What You're Not Hearing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HzlwvAChUY&feature=player_embedded
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« Reply #1067 on: January 09, 2010, 09:14:43 PM »


Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler./Submitted photo

Soldier recovers one step at a time
1/9/2010 12:20:02 AM

By Laura Horihan
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Rochester native Jessica Hansen sat in a hospital waiting room in Temple, Texas, on Friday as doctors performed surgery to reconstruct her fiance's skull.
      
Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, 28, was shot four times Nov. 5 during the attack on Fort Hood. Thirteen people died, and Zeigler was among those who were critically wounded.

Zeigler's prognosis wasn't good when Hansen, a 2006 graduate of Mayo High School, arrived in Texas to be at his side. He had been shot in the back of the head, shoulder, forearm and side, just above the hip.

Shortly after the shooting, Zeigler didn't have any movement on his left side, but his condition has greatly improved.

A week after the shooting, he was moved to the Texas NeuroRehab Center. He and Hansen have been living there ever since.

"He's made incredible progress," Hansen said. "He started walking again with a walker and used a regular cane this week."

She said he continues to have problems with his shoulder. Because he doesn't have much control of it, it can become dislocated.

"Next, they'll focus on getting his arm going again," Hansen said.

Despite the wound to his head, Zeigler has not suffered any cognitive disabilities, Hansen said.

"His personality is intact," Hansen said. "He's the same person."

Of all the soldiers injured, Zeigler's the only one who remains hospitalized.

While in the waiting room Friday, Hansen received good news. The doctors successfully removed the bullet from his head. She believes he will be going back to the rehab center in a few days.

Zeigler was serving in Iraq last Christmas, so this was the couple's first Christmas together.

"We were thankful that we could be together," Hansen said. "We both can't believe how lucky and how blessed we've been."

Web links

* Patrick Zeigler Recovery Fund:  http://www.healpatrickzeigler.com/

This website provides information and a link to a trust fund that has been established to benefit Staff Sergeant Patrick Zeigler and his immediate family towards the medical rehabilitation and related medical expenses. SSgt. Zeigler was a victim of the November 5, 2009 shootings at Fort Hood.

The Zeigler family appreciates all of the prayers and support during this difficult time.

All donations given through Paypal will accumulate a fee for Paypal’s services that is approximately 2% of the gift given. If you would like to send a check directly to the account established for the fund please mail those payments to:

SSG Zeigler, Patrick Trust Account
American National Bank of Texas
5809 Wesley St.
Greenville,TX 75402
(903) 455-7592


If you would like to send cards or care packages, please use the following address:

Patrick Zeigler
c/o Texas NeuroRehab Center
1106 West Dittmar Road
Austin, TX 78745

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=432987

Video:  Local Soldier Shot in Fort Hood Attack
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/local%20soldier%20shot%20in%20fort%20hood%20attack
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« Reply #1068 on: January 09, 2010, 09:55:31 PM »



NYC man charged with getting al-Qaida training
Feds say NYC man linked to terror suspect got military training from al-Qaida

By Tom Hays, Associated Press Writer
Saturday January 9, 2010, 6:07 pm EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City man under investigation for his links to a terror suspect pleaded not guilty Saturday to charges that he flew to Pakistan to get military training from al-Qaida.

Adis Medunjanin entered the plea during a swift arraignment at a federal court in Brooklyn. He faces counts of receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country.

The 25-year-old was one of two Queens men arrested early Friday in connection with the investigation of Najibullah Zazi, a Colorado airport driver who pleaded not guilty last year to supporting terrorism.

The indictment made public by prosecutors on Saturday provided scant details on the accusations against Medunjanin, who was born in Bosnia but is a U.S. citizen.

It said the charges were related to a trip he made to Pakistan in August of 2008. Prosecutors have said that Zazi, Medunjanin and a third man, Zarein Ahmedzay, traveled there together that summer. All three attended high school together and lived for years in the same Queens neighborhood.

Zazi has been under arrest since September, charged with getting explosives training from al-Qaida and later hatching a foiled scheme to attack targets in New York with homemade bombs. The new indictment did not directly tie Medunjanin to the New York plot -- what Attorney General Eric Holder has called one of the most serious terrorism cases since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Outside court, defense attorney Robert C. Gottlieb told reporters that his client's not guilty plea was "emphatic." He accused authorities of holding and interrogating Medunjanin for two days without letting him see his family or a lawyer.

"The questioning was illegal," Gottlieb said. Prosecutors declined to comment.

Ahmedzay pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he lied to the FBI during the probe about places he visited during the 2008 trip. He was taken into custody early Friday morning while working a late-night shift driving a cab in Manhattan.

Ahmedzay, 24, and Medunjanin were first publicly linked to the investigation in September, when the FBI raided their homes shortly before Zazi's arrest.

FBI agents had Medunjanin under surveillance, but apparently did not intend to arrest him when they went to his Queens apartment Thursday afternoon to seize his passport. Once that happened, authorities say he became upset and took off in his car.

A law enforcement official confirmed reports that Medunjanin then phoned 911 and ranted in Arabic, "We love death more than you love life," before purposely ramming his car into another vehicle and fleeing on foot.

The official was not authorized to discuss the arrest and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

After being captured and treated for minor injuries, federal investigators took him into custody. There were no signs of injury Saturday when he appeared in court wearing a black hooded winter jacket and entered his plea in a firm voice.

Gottlieb suggested that the car incident had been overblown, saying, "Let's see what the evidence is."

Medunjanin was ordered held without bail until a hearing Thursday.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/NYC-man-charged-with-getting-apf-2144097535.html?x=0&.v=2
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« Reply #1069 on: January 09, 2010, 10:34:53 PM »

Reporter's Notebook: Family proud of wounded soldier

Family and friends rallied to help Army Spc. Matthew Cooke and his wife, Sara, relatives said when sharing stories about the aftermath of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas last year.

Cooke, who was shot four times and suffered serious injuries, continues his recovery at home in his off-post apartment in Killeen, Texas.

Cooke, 30, of Forward Support Company, 20th Battalion, 36th Brigade, was among 30 people injured when Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire at the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Processing Center on Nov. 5. Twelve soldiers and one civilian died.

On Nov. 5, Sara said, she had been running errands with Amanda Adams, a friend from the Family Readiness Group, when they heard news that a sergeant had been shot. Then another sergeant called her to say Cooke couldn't be located and to ask if she could check at home, she said.

But she knew Cooke wasn't home because she had the family's only car and the house keys, she said, and it wouldn't be like him to be "lazy" and be at home, not work. After returning home, she checked her e-mail and found out from a relative that Matthew had been shot.

"I was pretty much hysterical and crying," Sara said. Adams calmed her then and at other times since the shooting, she said.

Diane Frappier, Cooke's mother who lives in Norwood, N.C., said she took pride in the efforts by Matthew's siblings to travel from East Coast homes to be at their brother's side.

"Our family is very tight," Frappier said this week. "His whole family was extremely supportive."

Charges, including 13 counts of premeditated murder, were filed Nov. 12 against Hasan for the shooting incident at Fort Hood.

http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_009104015.html
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« Reply #1070 on: January 10, 2010, 10:54:07 PM »

Al-Awlaki's father: My son is 'not Osama bin Laden'

By Paula Newton, CNN
January 10, 2010 7:15 p.m. EST



Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- His anguish apparent, the father of Anwar al-Awlaki told CNN that his son is not a member of al Qaeda and is not hiding out with terrorists in southern Yemen.

"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not," said Dr. Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of American-born Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

As recently as Sunday, Yemeni officials including provincial governor Al Hasan al-Ahmadi claimed that al-Awlaki was hiding out in the southern mountains of Yemen with al Qaeda.

"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now," insisted al-Awlaki's father in an exclusive interview with CNN.

"My son is [a] wanted man, he's cornered, that's the problem I am facing," al-Awlaki said.

The al-Awlaki family comes from the large and powerful Awalek tribe of Southern Yemen. It has many connections to the government of Yemen, including the country's prime minister, who is a relative of the al-Awlaki family.

Recently, Yemeni officials have also claimed that Anwar al-Awlaki had contact with Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab during his stay in Yemen in late 2009. When asked if his son met with the man charged with trying to blow up a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day, Nasser al-Awlaki said it's not likely.

"I have no idea but I don't believe it," he said.

The elder al-Awlaki is an accomplished academic and had held several positions within the Yemeni government, including minister of agriculture. He first went to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar in the late '60s, and his son Anwar was born there in 1971.

Al-Awlaki says he is doing what he can to coax his son out of hiding, but does not want to jeopardize his son's life.

"I will do my best to convince my son to do this [surrender], to come back, but they are not giving me time, they want to kill my son. How can the American government kill one of their own citizens? This is a legal issue that needs to be answered," he said.

"If they give me time I can have some contact with my son, but the problem is they are not giving me time," he said.

Al-Awlaki acknowledged his son has espoused some controversial views but all of them, he said, would be protected by freedom of speech provisions in the U.S. Constitution. He denied his son has done anything to encourage terrorists to commit violent acts.

"He is a preacher. You cannot tie Anwar to acts of terrorism," the elder al-Awlaki said.

Anwar al-Awlaki's name surfaced in November when U.S. officials revealed he and Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5 -- had exchanged e-mails. The intercepted e-mails between the two, officials said, had not not set off alarm bells.

The cleric recently told Al Jazeera's Arabic-language Web site that he met Hasan nine years ago while serving as an imam at a mosque in the Washington area. He said he lauded the Fort Hood attack because it was aimed at troops, whom he accused of fighting an unjust war against Islam.

"It is a military target inside America and there is no dispute over that," Anwar al-Awlaki said. "Also, these military personnel are not ordinary; they were trained and ready to fight and kill oppressed Muslims, and commit crimes in Afghanistan."

When asked why his son would praise Hasan, Nasser al-Awlaki said he did not agree with his son's views.

"I don't think that's right what he said about Maj. Hasan's actions, but my son has been very upset by the violence against Muslims," Nasser al-Awlaki said.

Nasser Al-Awlaki does concede his son's views seemed more radical after he spent time in a Yemeni prison from 2006 to 2007 on suspicion of having ties to terrorism. He was released for lack of evidence.

"They put him in jail for 18 months, and I detected a change after he got out of prison. He began to get away from the mainstream," Nasser al-Awlaki said.

The father also warned that the aggressive hunt for his son and al Qaeda operatives in Yemen using missile strikes will only serve to recruit more members to the organization.

"I don't want those American cowboys to destroy Yemen," Nasser al-Awlaki said, before conceding that the hunt for al Qaeda in Yemen is now a global concern.

"He has been wrongly accused, it's unbelievable. He lived his life in America, he's an all-American boy. My son would love to go back to America, he used to have a good life in America. Now he's hiding in the mountains, he doesn't even have safe water to drink," Nasser al-Awlaki said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/10/yemen.al.awlaki.father/

Video:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/10/yemen.al.awlaki.father/
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« Reply #1071 on: January 10, 2010, 11:23:11 PM »



Fiend's easy escape
US Qaeda imam was let go at JFK

By PAUL SPERRY
Last Updated: 9:47 AM, January 10, 2010
Posted: 1:23 AM, January 10, 2010

He's America's Osama bin Laden -- and we let him go.

Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim imam who ministered to at least three 9/11 hijackers, the Fort Hood shooter and the crotch-bomber, was taken into custody at JFK Airport on a felony arrest warrant in 2002.

Even though Awlaki had been on the FBI's radar for years, he was let go, most likely because of intervention by Saudi Arabia, classified documents and interviews reveal. Now he continues to train new "martyrs" in Yemen.

"We were stunned" that he was let go, said Ray Fournier, a federal agent who has been tracking Awlaki as part of a joint terrorism task force. "He was a high-value target. Everybody was excited about the prospect of hooking this guy up under a [criminal] charge to motivate a conversation with him regarding his relationship with the [9/11] hijackers."

 Awlaki, 38, was born in New Mexico and raised as a teen in Yemen. Fournier, then a Diplomatic Security Service agent, discovered that he lied about his place of birth on an application for a US Agency for International Development grant, receiving $20,000 a year to attend engineering classes at Colorado State University in the early 1990s. Awlaki turned to radical Islam instead, preaching at mosques in Fort Collins, Colo., and San Diego.

 He attracted the FBI's attention in 1999, because of alleged contact with an al Qaeda agent who bought a satellite phone for Osama bin Laden. But the investigation was closed the next year because of lack of evidence.

While in San Diego, Fournier said, Awlaki met at his mosque with Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, who would go on to hijack the plane that was crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11.

 "They weren't discussing tabouli recipes," said Fournier, who believes Awlaki knew of the 9/11 plot in advance.

In early 2001, Awlaki took over the pulpit at the Saudi-funded Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, which is located in Virginia, not far from the Pentagon. Hazmi followed him there. He and another Saudi hijacker, Hani Hanjour, pilot of the plane that hit the Pentagon, got help from Awlaki's mosque obtaining housing and identification.

In post-9/11 interviews with the FBI, Awlaki denied having contact with the hijackers in Virginia, and said that although he met with Hazmi several times in San Diego, he doesn't remember any specifics of what they discussed. The FBI let Awlaki go, but he remained on a watch list.

Meanwhile, Fournier was working up a warrant on the passport violation related to Awlaki's schooling. In 2002, Awlaki left the United States for England and later Saudi Arabia. On Oct. 10 of that year, he returned and was detained at JFK.

Fournier said that a passport-fraud conviction carries a maximum sentence of only six months, but it would have given investigators time to "play ball" with Awlaki -- to see if they could tie him to other charges.

According to classified immigration records, however, agents at JFK were advised to "release" the detainee because the warrant had mysteriously "been pulled back" the day before. Awlaki was handed off to a "Saudi rep" to continue his journey to Washington, where he recruited other terrorists. Not long after, he fled to Yemen.

Why would Saudi Arabia get involved in Awlaki's welfare? For one, he worked with the Saudi embassy as a tour guide for hajj pilgrimages, a position that requires connections in Riyadh. "You don't just get permission to lead tours" on the Muslim holy pilgrimage, said Hale Smith, a reformed Muslim convert who traveled with Awlaki on hajj, and roomed with the "very hard-line Sunni" cleric in Mecca and Medina. "You have to be in with the Saudis."

Justice Department officials maintain the fraud warrant was withdrawn simply because there wasn't enough evidence to make the charges against Awlaki stick.

But letting Awlaki free, as authorities now know, only allowed him to spread the seeds of hate to other terrorists.

Awlaki also carried on e-mail conversations with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who went on to kill 13 people at Fort Hood in November. And crotch bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab met with Awlaki in Yemen last summer. During his trip to that country, he was fitted with the device for his terror attack.

US authorities now suspect Awlaki has moved from preaching terrorism to planning it.

He gets hundreds, if not thousands, of young Muslim men jacked up for jihad. Court records cite Awlaki and his Web site as the source of inspiration for much of the homegrown terror plaguing the country right now -- including the Fort Dix Six, who plotted to kill US troops while posing as pizza delivery drivers.

How many other Abdulmutallabs and Hasans has he inspired? A Facebook page for Awlaki has 4,800 "fans." And his videotaped sermons are sold as CD box sets at mosques and Islamic bookstores across America.

His capture and interrogation are wartime imperatives.

Paul Sperry is a Hoover Institution media fellow and author of "Infiltration." His latest book is "Muslim Mafia."

Free radical Fournier said that a passport-fraud conviction carries a maximum sentence of only six months, but it would have given investigators time to "play ball" with Awlaki -- to see if they could tie him to other charges.

According to classified immigration records, however, agents at JFK were advised to "release" the detainee because the warrant had mysteriously "been pulled back" the day before. Awlaki was handed off to a "Saudi rep" to continue his journey to Washington, where he recruited other terrorists. Not long after, he fled to Yemen.

Why would Saudi Arabia get involved in Awlaki's welfare? For one, he worked with the Saudi embassy as a tour guide for hajj pilgrimages, a position that requires connections in Riyadh. "You don't just get permission to lead tours" on the Muslim holy pilgrimage, said Hale Smith, a reformed Muslim convert who traveled with Awlaki on hajj, and roomed with the "very hard-line Sunni" cleric in Mecca and Medina. "You have to be in with the Saudis."


Justice Department officials maintain the fraud warrant was withdrawn simply because there wasn't enough evidence to make the charges against Awlaki stick.

But letting Awlaki free, as authorities now know, only allowed him to spread the seeds of hate to other terrorists.

Awlaki also carried on e-mail conversations with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who went on to kill 13 people at Fort Hood in November. And crotch bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab met with Awlaki in Yemen last summer. During his trip to that country, he was fitted with the device for his terror attack.

US authorities now suspect Awlaki has moved from preaching terrorism to planning it.

He gets hundreds, if not thousands, of young Muslim men jacked up for jihad. Court records cite Awlaki and his Web site as the source of inspiration for much of the homegrown terror plaguing the country right now -- including the Fort Dix Six, who plotted to kill US troops while posing as pizza delivery drivers.

How many other Abdulmutallabs and Hasans has he inspired? A Facebook page for Awlaki has 4,800 "fans." And his videotaped sermons are sold as CD box sets at mosques and Islamic bookstores across America.

His capture and interrogation are wartime imperatives.

Paul Sperry is a Hoover Institution media fellow and author of "Infiltration." His latest book is "Muslim Mafia."

Free radical

American-born Anwar al-Awlaki has preached radical Islam to a who's who of terrorists, including:

* FORT HOOD SHOOTER: Awlaki ministers to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (right), who also attends Dar al-Hijrah, in 2001. In 2008, Hasan contacts Awlaki by e-mail, asking him "about killing American soldiers and officers and whether that was legitimate or not." It's the first of some 20 e-mails between them. From Yemen, Awlaki praises him as a "hero" after Hasan kills 13 at Fort Hood.

* 9/11 HIJACKERS: Awlaki meets with Saudi hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar . who flew the hijacked plane into the Pentagon on 9/11 . at his Masjid al-Rabat mosque in San Diego in 2000. The next year, Awlaki takes over the pulpit at Saudi-funded Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Virginia. Hazmi and another Saudi hijacker, Hani Hanjour, get help from Awlaki's mosque obtaining housing and IDs.

* CROTCH BOMBER: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab meets with Awlaki in Yemen last summer. NSA also picks up phone conversations between the two. Abdulmutallab tries to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear while on a plane en route to Detroit on Christmas Day.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/fiend_easy_escape_no4I3fUgiSmzc7WxrV2LLN/0
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« Reply #1072 on: January 11, 2010, 08:23:24 AM »

In Hasan Case, Superiors Ignored Their Own Worries

Emerging picture in Fort Hood review is one of supervisors who voiced concerns, but didn't act
By RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON January 11, 2010 (AP)

A Defense Department review of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, has found the doctors overseeing Maj. Nidal Hasan's medical training repeatedly voiced concerns over his strident views on Islam and his inappropriate behavior, yet continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving through the ranks.

The picture emerging from the review ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates is one of supervisors who failed to heed their own warnings about an officer ill-suited to be an Army psychiatrist, according to information gathered during the internal Pentagon investigation and obtained by The Associated Press. The review has not been publicly released.

Hasan, 39, is accused of murdering 13 people on Nov. 5 at Fort Hood, the worst killing spree on a U.S. military base.

What remains unclear is why Hasan would be advanced in spite of all the worries over his competence. That is likely to be the subject of a more detailed accounting by the department. Recent statistics show the Army rarely blocks junior officers from promotion, especially in the medical corps.

Hasan showed no signs of being violent or a threat. But parallels have been drawn between the missed signals in his case and those preceding the thwarted Christmas attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner. President Barack Obama and his top national security aides have acknowledged they had intelligence about the alleged bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO'-mahr fah-ROOK' ahb-DOOL'-moo-TAH'-lahb), but failed to connect the dots.

The Defense Department review is not intended to delve into allegations Hasan corresponded by e-mail with Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki before the attack. Those issues are part of a separate criminal investigation by law enforcement officials.

In telling episodes from the latter stages of lengthy Hasan's medical education in the Washington, D.C., area, he gave a class presentation questioning whether the U.S.-led war on terror was actually a war on Islam. And students said he suggested that Shariah (shah-REE'-yuh), or Islamic law, trumped the Constitution and he attempted to justify suicide bombings.

Yet no one in Hasan's chain of command appears to have challenged his eligibility to hold a secret security clearance even though they could have because the statements raised doubt about his loyalty to the United States. Had they, Hasan's fitness to serve as an Army officer may have been called into question long before he reported to Fort Hood.

Instead, in July 2009, Hasan arrived in central Texas, his secret clearance intact, his reputation as a weak performer well known, and Army authorities believing that posting him at such a large facility would mask his shortcomings.

Four months later, according to witnesses, he walked into a processing center at Fort Hood where troops undergo medical screening, jumped on a table with two handguns, shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — and opened fire. Thirteen people were killed in the spree and dozens more were wounded.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He remains at a San Antonio military hospital, undergoing rehabilitation for paralysis stemming from gunshot wounds suffered when security guards fired back during the massacre. Authorities have not said whether they plan to seek the death penalty.

After the Fort Hood shooting, Gates appointed two former senior defense officials to examine the procedures and policies for identifying threats within the military services. The review, led by former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Adm. Vernon Clark, began Nov. 20 and is scheduled to be delivered to Gates by Jan. 15.

Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on the West-Clark review because it's not complete. "We will not know the specific content of the report until it is submitted to the secretary of defense," he said.

Hasan's superiors had a full picture of him, developed over his 12-year career as a military officer, medical student and psychiatrist, according to the information reviewed by AP.

While in medical school at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences from 1997 to 2003, Hasan received a string of below average and failing grades, was put on academic probation and showed little motivation to learn.

He took six years to graduate from the university in Bethesda, Md., instead of the customary four, according to the school. The delays were due in part to the deaths of his father in 1998 and his mother in 2001. Yet the information about his academic probation and bad grades wasn't included in his military personnel file, leaving the impression he was ready for more intense instruction.

In June 2003, Hasan started a four-year psychiatry internship and residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and he was counseled frequently for deficiencies in his performance. Teachers and colleagues described him as a below average student.

Between 2003 and 2007, Hasan's supervisors expressed their concerns with him in memos, meeting notes and counseling sessions. He needed steady monitoring, especially in the emergency room, had difficulty communicating and working with colleagues, his attendance was spotty and he saw few patients.

In one incident already made public, a patient of Hasan's with suicidal and homicidal tendencies walked out of the hospital without permission.

Still, Hasan's officer evaluation reports were consistently more positive, usually describing his performance as satisfactory and at least twice as outstanding. Known as "OERs," the reports are used to determine promotions and assignments. The Army promoted Hasan to captain in 2003 and to major in 2009.

At Walter Reed, Hasan's conflict with his Islamic faith and his military service became more apparent to superiors and colleagues, according to the information. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a trip expected of all Muslims at least once. But he was also cited for inappropriately engaging patients in discussions about religious issues.

While in medical school at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences from 1997 to 2003, Hasan received a string of below average and failing grades, was put on academic probation and showed little motivation to learn.

He took six years to graduate from the university in Bethesda, Md., instead of the customary four, according to the school. The delays were due in part to the deaths of his father in 1998 and his mother in 2001. Yet the information about his academic probation and bad grades wasn't included in his military personnel file, leaving the impression he was ready for more intense instruction.

In June 2003, Hasan started a four-year psychiatry internship and residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and he was counseled frequently for deficiencies in his performance. Teachers and colleagues described him as a below average student.

Between 2003 and 2007, Hasan's supervisors expressed their concerns with him in memos, meeting notes and counseling sessions. He needed steady monitoring, especially in the emergency room, had difficulty communicating and working with colleagues, his attendance was spotty and he saw few patients.

In one incident already made public, a patient of Hasan's with suicidal and homicidal tendencies walked out of the hospital without permission.

Still, Hasan's officer evaluation reports were consistently more positive, usually describing his performance as satisfactory and at least twice as outstanding. Known as "OERs," the reports are used to determine promotions and assignments. The Army promoted Hasan to captain in 2003 and to major in 2009.

At Walter Reed, Hasan's conflict with his Islamic faith and his military service became more apparent to superiors and colleagues, according to the information. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a trip expected of all Muslims at least once. But he was also cited for inappropriately engaging patients in discussions about religious issues.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wirestory?id=9527996&page=1
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« Reply #1073 on: January 11, 2010, 09:02:46 AM »

Lawmaker eyes ties between Fort Hood, Yemeni terror group

By Todd Spangler • GANNETT NEWS SERVICE • January 11, 2010

WASHINGTON — With word that President Barack Obama's administration plans another review of the failed bombing attempt on a Detroit Metropolitan Airport-bound flight, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee wants to know whether the White House ever increased its efforts to detect and disrupt the activities of a Yemen-based terrorist group after the November shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, said Saturday that he supports National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair's decision to put together a group of national security experts to look at both the Dec. 25 incident at the Romulus airport and the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood, which may suggest a link between the two.

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is accused of killing 13 people in the Ft. Hood attack.

Hasan and the Detroit bombing suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, are believed to be tied — though it's not entirely clear how — to Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamic cleric living in Yemen who is believed to be a spiritual adviser to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

The group is an affiliate of the terrorist group that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and took responsibility for the Detroit incident.

"It's Awlaki, it's al-Qaida and it's Yemen," said Hoekstra, who is running for governor this year. "It indicates al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has as its chief objective to attack the homeland."

The question, he said, is whether the United States did enough to prevent an attack before Dec. 25.

"For those families (of the Fort Hood victims), this is no longer apsirational," he said. "This is real."

Hoekstra was one of the first to call for increased intelligence into al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and al-Awlaki in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, and to question whether the failed bombing attempt was linked to the cleric. He said he's still waiting for details into the Texas shooting two months later.

He argues that the White House — while taking the blame for intelligence failures that allowed Abdulmutallab to board a U.S.-bound plane in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with explosives — is wrong to say there was no smoking gun that would have tipped off security officials.

"The smoking gun is Fort Hood," said Hoekstra.

— By Todd Spangler, Gannett News Service

http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20100111/NEWS01/1110302/Lawmaker-eyes-ties-between-Fort-Hood-Yemeni-terror-group
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« Reply #1074 on: January 11, 2010, 09:06:05 AM »

Emerging picture in Fort Hood review is one of supervisors who voiced concerns, but didn't act

RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press Writer
7:48 a.m. EST, January 11, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Defense Department review of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, has found the doctors overseeing Maj. Nidal Hasan's medical training repeatedly voiced concerns over his strident views on Islam and his inappropriate behavior, yet continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving through the ranks.

The picture emerging from the review ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates is one of supervisors who failed to heed their own warnings about an officer ill-suited to be an Army psychiatrist, according to information gathered during the internal Pentagon investigation and obtained by The Associated Press. The review has not been publicly released.

Hasan, 39, is accused of murdering 13 people on Nov. 5 at Fort Hood, the worst killing spree on a U.S. military base.

What remains unclear is why Hasan would be advanced in spite of all the worries over his competence. That is likely to be the subject of a more detailed accounting by the department. Recent statistics show the Army rarely blocks junior officers from promotion, especially in the medical corps.

Hasan showed no signs of being violent or a threat. But parallels have been drawn between the missed signals in his case and those preceding the thwarted Christmas attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner. President Barack Obama and his top national security aides have acknowledged they had intelligence about the alleged bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (OO'-mahr fah-ROOK' ahb-DOOL'-moo-TAH'-lahb), but failed to connect the dots.

The Defense Department review is not intended to delve into allegations Hasan corresponded by e-mail with Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki before the attack. Those issues are part of a separate criminal investigation by law enforcement officials.

In telling episodes from the latter stages of lengthy Hasan's medical education in the Washington, D.C., area, he gave a class presentation questioning whether the U.S.-led war on terror was actually a war on Islam. And students said he suggested that Shariah (shah-REE'-yuh), or Islamic law, trumped the Constitution and he attempted to justify suicide bombings.

Yet no one in Hasan's chain of command appears to have challenged his eligibility to hold a secret security clearance even though they could have because the statements raised doubt about his loyalty to the United States. Had they, Hasan's fitness to serve as an Army officer may have been called into question long before he reported to Fort Hood.

Instead, in July 2009, Hasan arrived in central Texas, his secret clearance intact, his reputation as a weak performer well known, and Army authorities believing that posting him at such a large facility would mask his shortcomings.

Four months later, according to witnesses, he walked into a processing center at Fort Hood where troops undergo medical screening, jumped on a table with two handguns, shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — and opened fire. Thirteen people were killed in the spree and dozens more were wounded.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He remains at a San Antonio military hospital, undergoing rehabilitation for paralysis stemming from gunshot wounds suffered when security guards fired back during the massacre. Authorities have not said whether they plan to seek the death penalty.

After the Fort Hood shooting, Gates appointed two former senior defense officials to examine the procedures and policies for identifying threats within the military services. The review, led by former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Adm. Vernon Clark, began Nov. 20 and is scheduled to be delivered to Gates by Jan. 15.

Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on the West-Clark review because it's not complete. "We will not know the specific content of the report until it is submitted to the secretary of defense," he said.

Hasan's superiors had a full picture of him, developed over his 12-year career as a military officer, medical student and psychiatrist, according to the information reviewed by AP.

While in medical school at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences from 1997 to 2003, Hasan received a string of below average and failing grades, was put on academic probation and showed little motivation to learn.

He took six years to graduate from the university in Bethesda, Md., instead of the customary four, according to the school. The delays were due in part to the deaths of his father in 1998 and his mother in 2001. Yet the information about his academic probation and bad grades wasn't included in his military personnel file, leaving the impression he was ready for more intense instruction.

In June 2003, Hasan started a four-year psychiatry internship and residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and he was counseled frequently for deficiencies in his performance. Teachers and colleagues described him as a below average student.

Between 2003 and 2007, Hasan's supervisors expressed their concerns with him in memos, meeting notes and counseling sessions. He needed steady monitoring, especially in the emergency room, had difficulty communicating and working with colleagues, his attendance was spotty and he saw few patients.

In one incident already made public, a patient of Hasan's with suicidal and homicidal tendencies walked out of the hospital without permission.

Still, Hasan's officer evaluation reports were consistently more positive, usually describing his performance as satisfactory and at least twice as outstanding. Known as "OERs," the reports are used to determine promotions and assignments. The Army promoted Hasan to captain in 2003 and to major in 2009.

At Walter Reed, Hasan's conflict with his Islamic faith and his military service became more apparent to superiors and colleagues, according to the information. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a trip expected of all Muslims at least once. But he was also cited for inappropriately engaging patients in discussions about religious issues.

Early in 2007, Maj. Scott Moran became director of psychiatry residency and took a much firmer line with Hasan. Moran reprimanded him for not being reachable when he was supposed to be on-call, developed a plan to improve his performance, and informed him his research project about the internal conflicts of Muslim soldiers was inappropriate.

Nonetheless, Hasan presented the project, entitled "Koranic World View as It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military," and it was approved as meeting a residency program requirement, according to the information.

Hasan graduated from the Walter Reed residency program and began a two-year fellowship in preventive and disaster psychiatry. Despite his earlier reservations, Moran wrote a solid reference letter for Hasan that said he was a competent doctor.

Reached by telephone, Moran declined to comment.

Hasan completed the fellowship June 30, 2009. Two weeks later he was at Fort Hood.

___

Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/sns-ap-us-fort-hood-pentagon-review,0,5949308.story
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« Reply #1075 on: January 11, 2010, 09:37:17 AM »

Al-Qaeda pressure causes Yemen president to offer negotiations

Albuquerque News.Net
Sunday 10th January, 2010

The President of Yemen has told al-Qaeda militants he will negotiate with them if they lay down their weapons.
The President of Yemen has told al-Qaeda militants he will negotiate with them if they lay down their weapons.

With dozens of foreign fighters with al-Qaeda credentials streaming into the country, Ali Abdullah Saleh has said his offer gives al-Qaeda militants a last chance to come to an accommodation, after Yemen called on US special forces instructors to put troops through intensive anti-terrorist training.

He told local media: "If al-Qaeda lay down their arms, renounce terrorism and return to wisdom, we are prepared to deal with them. They are a threat not only to Yemen but also to international peace and security."

It is believed several al-Qaeda militants, including Saudis and Egyptians, have entered from Afghanistan to join fighters in the tribal lands of central and southern Yemen.

Among notorious figures believed to have been hiding in the area are Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born imam with links to the US army psychiatrist charged with the Fort Hood shootings and the Nigerian man who allegedly tried to blow up a Christmas Day flight to Detroit.
 
http://www.albuquerquenews.net/story/586999
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« Reply #1076 on: January 11, 2010, 09:51:07 AM »



Army base massacre gunman 'should have been spotted'
11/01/2010 - 13:47:53

The Muslim US major who went on the rampage at Fort Hood army base killing 13 people was a known problem who should have been spotted, a new report says.

Parallels over the security forces’ failure to act are being drawn between the case of Nidal Hasan and the Detroit airline bomber.

Hasan stalked the base in Texas with two handguns seemingly shooting at random before being shot and wounded by guards.

A Defence Department review has found the doctors overseeing Hasan’s medical training repeatedly voiced concerns over his strident views on Islam and his inappropriate behaviour, yet continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving through the ranks.

The picture emerging from the review ordered by Defence Secretary Robert Gates is one of supervisors who failed to heed their own warnings about an officer ill-suited to be an Army psychiatrist, according to information gathered during the internal Pentagon investigation.

Hasan, 39, is charged with murdering the 13 people last November in the worst killing spree on a US military base.

What remains unclear is why Hasan would be promoted in spite of all the worries over his competence. That is likely to be the subject of a more detailed investigation.

In telling episodes from the latter stages of Hasan’s lengthy medical education he gave a class presentation questioning whether the war on terror was actually a war on Islam. And students said he suggested that Shariah, or Islamic law, trumped the Constitution and he attempted to justify suicide bombings.

Yet no one in Hasan’s chain of command appears to have challenged his eligibility to hold a secret security clearance.

Had they, Hasan’s fitness to serve as an Army officer may have been called into question long before he reported to Fort Hood.

Instead, in July 2009, Hasan arrived in central Texas, his secret clearance intact, his reputation as a weak performer well known, and Army authorities believing that posting him at such a large facility would mask his shortcomings.

Four months later he walked into a processing centre where troops undergo medical screening, jumped on a table with two handguns, shouted “Allahu Akbar!” – Arabic for “God is great!” – and opened fire.

Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He remains in a military hospital.

After the Fort Hood shooting, Mr Gates appointed two former senior defence officials to examine the procedures and policies for identifying threats within the military services.

Hasan’s superiors had a full picture of him, developed over his 12-year career as a military officer, medical student and psychiatrist, according to the information seen by the Associated Press news agency.

While in medical school Hasan received a string of below average and failing grades, was put on academic probation and showed little motivation to learn.

He took six years to graduate from university instead of the usual four. The information about his academic probation and bad grades was not included in his military personnel file, leaving the impression he was ready for more intense instruction.

In June 2003, Hasan started a four-year psychiatry internship and was counselled frequently for deficiencies in his performance. Teachers and colleagues described him as a below average student.

Between 2003 and 2007, Hasan’s supervisors expressed their concerns with him in memos, meeting notes and counselling sessions. He needed steady monitoring, especially in the emergency room, had difficulty communicating and working with colleagues, his attendance was poor and he saw few patients.

But Hasan’s officer evaluation reports were consistently more positive, usually describing his performance as satisfactory and at least twice as outstanding. Known as “OERs,” the reports are used to determine promotions and assignments. The Army promoted Hasan to captain in 2003 and to major in 2009.

At Walter Reed, Hasan’s conflict with his Islamic faith and his military service became more apparent to superiors and colleagues, according to the information. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a trip expected of all Muslims at least once. But he was also cited for inappropriately engaging patients in discussions about religious issues.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/world/army-base-massacre-gunman-should-have-been-spotted-441513.html
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« Reply #1077 on: January 11, 2010, 09:55:06 AM »


Yemeni Islamic cleric Sheik Abdel-Majid al-Zindani, left, talks during a press conference in the capital San'a, Yemen Monday, Jan. 11, 2010. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Lee Keath)

Yemen's most powerful radical cleric warns of foreign 'occupation' in growing terror fight

By Lee Keath (CP)

SAN'A, Yemen — Yemen's most influential Islamic cleric, considered an al-Qaida-linked terrorist by the United States, warned the government on Monday against allowing "foreign occupation" of the country in the growing co-operation with the U.S. against the terror group.

Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani's comments reflected a deep mistrust among Yemenis of Washington's intentions as it ramps up counterterrorism aid and training for San'a to combat al-Qaida's offshoot here.

Al-Zindani, a radical cleric who once associated with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, is highly influential among Yemenis and the government is careful to maintain at least his tacit support.

"We accept any co-operation in the framework of respect and joint interests, and we reject military occupation of our country. And we don't accept the return of colonialization," al-Zindani told reporters.

"Yemen's rulers and people must be careful before a (foreign) guardianship is imposed on them," he said. "The day parliament allows the occupation of Yemen, the people will rise up against it and bring it down."

President Barack Obama said he does not plan to send American combat forces to Yemen, and San'a has said it will not allow such a deployment.

"I have no intention of sending U.S. boots on the ground in these regions," Obama said in an interview with People magazine to be published Friday.

U.S. military personnel are helping train Yemeni counterterror forces and gave Yemeni forces intelligence and logistical help in heavy airstrikes last month against suspected al-Qaida hideouts that Yemen says killed dozens of militants.

Al-Zindani is a controversial figure in Yemeni politics.

The United States has labeled him a "global terrorist," alleging he helps fund and recruit for al-Qaida and that students from Iman University - which he heads - were involved in past attacks.

But Yemen's government courts his support. The deputy prime minister last week denied al-Zindani is a member of al-Qaida.

Addressing a news conference held at his San'a home, al-Zindani denied U.S. accusations against him, saying "it's become well known among the people that a lot of lies come out of" Washington.

He also denied any knowledge of al-Qaida's activities in Yemen. He also denied he had any influence on an American-Yemeni radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who is being hunted by Yemeni forces for alleged al-Qaida links.

Al-Awlaki is a young cleric popular among extremists for his calls for jihad, or holy war, against the Americans. Yemeni officials say he may have met with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in Yemen before the 23-year-old Nigerian allegedly tried to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day. Al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen is accused of plotting that attack.

Al-Awlaki also had email contact with the accused Fort Hood shooter before he allegedly opened fire at the military base in Texas, killing 13 people. Al-Awlaki later praised the attack, and he has also praised al-Zindani's writings in Internet speeches.

"I was never a direct teacher for Anwar al-Awlaki," al-Zindani said, his white beard dyed red with henna in the style of some Islamic hard-liners.

"I am general lecturer and a writer of books. If someone says they listened to my lectures or read my books, am I to blame if he then, say, divorces his wife, or if he attacks someone? If that's the case, then all teachers and professors should be accused," said al-Zindani, who also denied any connection to Abdulmutallab.

Al-Zindani, who often preaches in favour of holy war to defend the Muslim world, was careful not to directly criticize the Yemeni government's co-operation with the United States and avoided any comments that suggested a call for violence.

But he said San'a must regulate its counterterror partnership with Washington with written agreements approved by parliament. "The constitution says agreements must be put before parliament. I demand the implementation of the constitution," he said.

He sharply criticized a U.S.-backed Yemeni airstrike against a suspected al-Qaida hideout on Dec. 17 in which dozens of civilians were reported killed. "Is this right? What about a government that calls in any force to strike whoever it wants in this way, without any restrictions?" he said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ij_Llvt8rrdJCrEbkBYEBgczJ0tg
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« Reply #1078 on: January 11, 2010, 09:58:04 AM »

Obama rules out sending US troops to Yemen or Somalia

A Yemeni soldier operates a checkpoint in the capital
Mr Obama said he had no intention of putting US boots on the ground in Yemen

President Barack Obama has said he has "no intention" of sending US troops to Yemen or Somalia to combat militant groups in those countries.

Speaking to People magazine, Mr Obama said the hub of al-Qaeda activity was on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Mr Obama said he never ruled out any possibility in a "complex" world.

But he added that in countries like Yemen and Somalia, "working with international partners is most effective at this point".

"I have no intention of sending US boots on the ground in these regions."

The spotlight was turned on Yemen after the Yemen-based group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it carried out a failed bomb attack on a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

On a visit to Yemen last week, the US commander for operations in the Middle East and central Asia, Gen David Petraeus, said Washington planned to more than double economic aid to the country.

Adm Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently told CNN that the US was providing "some support" to Yemen's efforts to attack militants, but insisted Sanaa led the operations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8451890.stm
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« Reply #1079 on: January 11, 2010, 10:01:35 AM »

Afghan fighters join Yemeni rebels

RICHARD SPENCER
January 12, 2010

DUBAI: Dozens of Saudi and Egyptian veterans of al-Qaeda's operations in Afghanistan have been pouring into Yemen, a senior Yemeni official warns.

In a gloomy assessment of Yemen's security, a regional governor says jihadis from across the Arab world are hiding in the lawless hills where the so-called Christmas ''underwear bomber'' is thought to have trained.

Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, the governor of Shabwa, told the al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that the militants had joined Yemeni radicals from Shabwa and other regions.

Air raids were carried out against al-Qaeda in the south-east province by the Yemeni authorities, with American military support, shortly before Christmas.

Al-Qaeda members, including several former inmates of Guantanamo Bay, have been attracted since Afghanistan and the Pakistan border regions have become less hospitable to them.

Yemeni authorities have rejected claims that large-scale US military intervention will be needed.

The country is torn by a civil war with Shiite rebels in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and an active al-Qaeda network.

Senior US officials have welcomed the Yemeni Government's view. On Sunday, top US military officials ruled out sending ground troops into Yemen to attack al-Qaeda cells.

''As far as any kind of boots on the ground there with respect to the United States, that's not a possibility. We are not into those kinds of discussions,'' Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on CNN.

General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, echoed the comments in a separate CNN interview, saying Yemen's leadership ''does not want to have American ground troops there and that's a good, good response for us to hear, certainly''.

''We always want a host nation to deal with a problem itself.''

The President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, called on al-Qaeda supporters to lay down their arms and enter into negotiation with his government.

''Dialogue is the best way, even with al-Qaeda, if they set aside their weapons and return to reason,'' he said in an interview with Abu Dhabi television.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/afghan-fighters-join-yemeni-rebels-20100111-m2py.html
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