American imam in Yemen urges attacks in new video

AN AMERICAN-Yemeni cleric whose online sermons are said to have helped inspire attacks on the US advocated the killing of American civilians in an al-Qaeda video released yesterday.

Anwar al-Awlaki has been singled out by US officials as a key threat and has been added to the CIA's targets for assassination despite his American citizenship. He is of particular concern because he is one of the few English-speaking clerics able to explain to young Muslims in the US and other Western countries the philosophy of violent jihad.

The US-born Awlaki moved to Yemen in 2004 and is in hiding there after being linked to the suspects in the November shooting at an US army base in Fort Hood, Texas, and the December attempt to blow up a US airliner bound for Detroit.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama would continue to take action directly against terrorists like Awlaki