by Scott Shane
Shahidur Rahman Rahman and two of his friends, all young Britons with radical views who generally shunned the media, were interviewed in London in 2010 by my New York Times colleague Souad Mekhennet. The interviews were used for our profile of Awlaki: “Imam’s Path from Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” The New York Times, May 8, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html.
dressed in a white thobe Videos of Awlaki’s Umar lectures at the East London Mosque are available on YouTube and elsewhere on the web: for example, HD: Introduction to Umar ibn Khattaab—Anwar Al Awlaki, uploaded June 3, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0BadunCRls.
“Never Ever Trust the Kuffar” See the video of that title, uploaded September 2, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE38ZSc1fdA.
a country that was more than 95 percent non-Muslim “Religion in England and Wales 2011,” Office of National Statistics, December 11, 2012. This report includes the statistic for London as well.
Ahmed Younis Younis, telephone interview, November 19, 2013.
on the Muslim lecture circuit Awlaki’s UK appearances in 2002–3 were traced from a number of sources, including searches of Yahoo Groups like “London_Muslim”: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/London_Muslim/search/messages?query=awlaki.
Muslim Americans approximately matched the American average in income and education See Pew Research Center, “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream,” May 22, 2007, http://pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf.
In the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, the picture was quite different See, for instance, Robert S. Leikin, “Europe’s Angry Muslims,” Foreign Affairs, July/August 2005, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/60829/robert-s-leiken/europes-angry-muslims.
a series of articles he wrote in 2002 for the Yemen Observer Awlaki’s articles were photocopied by the author from bound volumes at the Observer’s offices in Sanaa: “The Question of Suicide Bombings,” May 4, 2002; “Great Successes of the War on Terror,” July 27, 2002; “The Next War,” August 17, 2002.
Al Qaeda had based its declarations of war on America in 1996 and 1998 Gilles Kepel and Jean-Pierre Milelli, Al Qaeda in Its Own Words (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008), 47–50 and 53–56.
in Sanaa, he was staying in his father’s big house This account of his life at the family home comes largely from interviews with Nasser al-Awlaki and Ammar al-Awlaki, 2014.
“I encouraged him to complete his PhD in Britain” Nasser al-Awlaki, written answers to questions sent by the author, January 2014.
Using his father’s money, he invested in real estate These and other details of Anwar’s various plans are from the author’s interview with Nasser al-Awlaki, February 1, 2014, Sanaa.
“working within the Muslim community with educated people” Nasser al-Awlaki, written answers to questions sent by the author, January 2014.
Awlaki called one of the FBI counterterrorism agents The FBI memos and e-mails between the FBI and Awlaki are on pdf pages 1922–60 in a second batch of FBI documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by J. M. Berger of Intelwire, which he kindly shared with me in November 2014. They are not online at the time of this writing but are likely to be posted eventually at Intelwire.com. A former American counterterrorism official also described the exchanges with Awlaki in a confidential interview in 2014.
Ammerman told 9/11 Commission investigators on October 16, 2003, that he believed Awlaki “may want to return to the US” “Memorandum for the Record: Interview of FBI Special Agent Wade Ammerman,” October 16, 2003, 9/11 Commission Records, National Archives.
Ali al-Timimi was expecting indictment Jerry Markon, “Lecturer Expects Indictment in Va. Jihad Case,” Washington Post, August 15, 2003.
Timimi ultimately would be charged, convicted, and sentenced to life Jerry Markon, “Muslim Lecturer Sentenced to Life,” Washington Post, July 14, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302169.html.
“I think the UK police, Scotland Yard, were looking for him” Mohammed al-Asaadi, interview, January 30, 2014, Sanaa.
“I mean, to see his classmates as high-ranking officers” Saleh bin Fareed al-Awlaki, interview, January 28, 2014, Aden.
he gave a series of lectures on Islam in medieval Spain Sudarsan Raghavan, “Cleric Linked to Fort Hood Attack Grew More Radicalized in Yemen,” Washington Post, December 10, 2009.
Salman al-Awda Awlaki mentions Awda (using the spelling Salman al-Odah) in a very interesting blog entry giving an account of his Islamic education: “A Question from a Reader on My Islamic Education,” August 12, 2008, anwar-alawlaki.com, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0812.htm.
He moved to the town of Hodeidah on Yemen’s west coast Nasser al-Awlaki, interview, February 1, 2014, Sanaa.
“always busy” This phrase and the quotes that follow are from Ammar al-Awlaki, interview, January 25, 2014, Sanaa.
Awlaki’s name was redacted Details and the FBI’s response are in Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, Report of the Joint Inquiry into the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, December 2002, https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2002_rpt/911rept.pdf, 178–79.
The Washington Post featured Awlaki Susan Schmidt, “9/11 Hijackers San Diego Contacts Detailed by Lawmakers’ Report,” Washington Post, July 23, 2003.
a story in U.S. News & World Report Chitra Ragavan, “The Imam’s Very Curious Story: A Skirt-Chasing Mullah Is Just One More Mystery for the 9/11 Panel,” U.S. News & World Report, June 13, 2004.
“Everyone discussed it politically” This and the quotes that follow are from Ammar al-Awlaki, interview, January 25, 2014, Sanaa.
five-hour set of lectures Awlaki’s lectures entitled “Constants on the Path of Jihad” are preserved in the Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/Consta.
“the single most influential work” J. M. Berger, “The Enduring Appeal of Al-Awlaqi’s ‘Constants on the Path of Jihad,’ ” CTC Sentinel (Combating Terrorism Center at West Point), October 31, 2011. Other details are from the same essay and from the lectures themselves.
Saeed Ali Obaid Obaid, interview, January 25, 2014, Sanaa.
Early in 2006, a young Danish convert living in Sanaa Morten Storm with Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister, Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al Qaeda and the CIA (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2014), 91–99.
“Because he did not have a job” Saleh bin Fareed al-Awlaki, interview, January 28, 2014, Aden.
“He found listening ears and open hearts” Mohammed al-Asaadi, interview, January 30, 2014, Sanaa.
Awlaki stirred up family trouble by announcing that he was taking a second wife Confidential interviews in Sanaa, February 2014. According to Morten Storm, Awlaki later told him that the new bride was a “generous gesture” from the brothers (Storm, Agent Storm, 149).
London-based Arabic daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Jonathan Schanzer, “Basket Catch,” New Republic, September 1, 2003.
“He was telling me, ‘I’m not a person who would justify killing’ ” Mohammed al-Asaadi, interview, January 30, 2014, Sanaa.
“I saw someone outside the house chewing qat” Awlaki family neighbor, confidential interview, January 2014, Sanaa.
The bureau formally closed its Awlaki investigation in May 2003 William H. Webster Commission, Final Report of the William H. Webster Commission on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Intelligence, and the Events at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009, http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/final-report-of-the-william-h.-webster-commission, 34.
“ANWAR
AWLAKI is no longer in San Diego Division” FBI documents obtained by J. M. Berger, “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files; Hijacker Travel Questions,” Intelwire, January 21, 2014, http://news.intelwire.com/2014/01/intelwire-releases-awlaki-foia-files.html, 271. The original, like many FBI documents, uses the spelling AULAQI.
an FBI source reported that Awlaki had just crossed the border from Canada into Vermont FBI memo dated January 31, 2006, in second collection of FBI documents obtained by J. M. Berger of Intelwire and shared with me, not currently online (dated November 2014), 2471 and 2539; also see William H. Webster Commission, Final Report, 34, and first collection of FBI documents obtained by J. M. Berger, “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files,” 275.
when at least twenty-three Al Qaeda operatives escaped from the Political Security Organization’s maximum-security prison Bill Roggio, “Al Qaeda Jailbreak in Yemen,” Long War Journal, February 8, 2006, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2006/02/alqaeda_jailbreak_in.php#.
Awlaki was arrested in Sanaa The oft-reported date of the arrest, August 31, 2006, is hard to trace to authoritative sources, and some acquaintances of Anwar al-Awlaki say that he was picked up for questioning more than once before his imprisonment. But the date has been repeated in authoritative reports (for example, Defense Department, Influencing Violent Extremist Organizations Pilot Report: Focus on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), fall 2011, http://nsiteam.com/scientist/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SMA_AQAP_Pilot_Integration_Report_-_Final_v21.pdf, 231) and is certainly close to the right date.
Awlaki himself later told AQAP’s media wing Awlaki’s video interview to Al Malahem: SITE Intelligence Group, “AQAP Releases Interview with Anwar al-Awlaki,” May 23, 2010, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Multimedia/awlaki52310.html.
News reports later linked Awlaki, under the pseudonym Abu Atiq Cameron Stewart and Martin Chulov, “Yemen Ties Terror’s Loose Ends,” Australian, November 4, 2006. While the Australian does not explicitly identify Abu Atiq as Awlaki, it is clear from details given about Abu Atiq that they are the same person. In addition, an FBI memo from December 1, 2006, identifies Awlaki as “Abu Atiq Anwar Aulaqi.” See FBI documents, “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files,” 788.
Yemeni officials told Negroponte American and Yemeni officials, confidential interviews, 2010.
“A respected scholar, Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, has been arrested in Yemen” Cageprisoners statement, posted on Yahoo’s London_Muslim newsgroup, November 17, 2006.
A legend would later arise The notion that torture was behind a sudden change in Awlaki’s views is widespread. It was persuasively refuted by, among others, Shiraz Maher of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at Kings College London, “Did Anwar al-Awlaki Really Change After His Arrest?,” Harry’s Place (blog), February 9, 2010, http://hurryupharry.org/2010/02/09/did-anwar-al-awlaki-really-change-after-his-arrest/, and J. M. Berger of Intelwire, “The Myth of Anwar al-Awlaki,” Foreign Policy, August 10, 2011, http://www.foreignpohcy.com/articles/2011/08/10/the_myth_of_anwar_al_awlaki.
his father said he was never beaten or physically tortured Nasser al-Awlaki, interview, February 1, 2014, Sanaa.
by his own account, he was kept in solitary confinement Awlaki, “Book Reviews from Behind Bars,” June 9, 2008, http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0609.htm. Awlaki described his imprisonment in multiple entries on his blog at http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com. It was removed from the web in November 2009, but the blog entries are preserved in a number of places, notably at cryptome.org.
His first nine months in prison Ibid.
“a Bedouin from Shabwah” Nasser al-Awlaki, interview by Medea Benjamin, June 2013, Sanaa.
“Shakespeare was the worst thing” Awlaki, “Book Review 9: English Novels,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, August 6, 2008, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0806.htm.
Ibn Taymiyyah Awlaki, “Book Review 8: Majmu Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, August 1, 2008, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0801.htm.
Sayyid Qutb Awlaki, “Book Review 3: In the Shade of the Quran by Sayyid Qutb,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, June 22, 2008, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0622.htm.
The fellow prisoner, Harith al-Nadari, described his friend Shaykh Harith Al Nadari, “My Story with Al Awlaki,” Inspire, no. 9 (May 2012): 12; the issue can be downloaded at Public Intelligence, https://publicintelligence.net/inspire-al-qaeda-in-the-arabian-peninsula-magazine-issues-8-and-9-may-2012/.
At different times, they spoke also with the Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Abdulwahab al-Hajjri Nasser al-Awlaki, interview, February 1, 2014, Sanaa.
“At the beginning they said” Saleh bin Fareed al-Awlaki, interview, January 28, 2014, Aden.
Nasser al-Awlaki persuaded his son to talk to two FBI agents Nasser al-Awlaki, written answers to questions from the author, January 2014.
“He entered the office…like a boss” Al Nadari, “My Story,” 12.
“There was some pressure, which I refused to accept” Awlaki, interview by Moazzam Begg, December 31, 2007, Cageprisoners, http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=22926.
intermittent debate about Awlaki’s fate American officials, confidential interviews, 2010 and 2014.
“If you have any evidence against him” Saleh bin Fareed al-Awlaki, interview, January 28, 2014, Aden.
“AmCit Terror Suspect Released from Yemeni Custody” FBI documents, “Intelwire Releases Awlaki FOIA Files,” 1319.
Heavily redacted e-mail exchanges released by the FBI do not make clear the nature of the charges The e-mails are in a second batch of FBI documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by J. M. Berger of Intelwire and provided to me in November 2014. They are not online at the time of this writing, but if and when they are posted, the e-mails about possible charges for Awlaki are on pdf pages 1361–65.
Morten Storm, his Danish acolyte Storm, Agent Storm, 145–46.
Awlaki gave a long-distance interview Awlaki, interview by Moazzam Begg, December 31, 2007, Cageprisoners, http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=22926.
Awlaki had registered a website, www.anwar-alawlaki.com A check of the registration records in 2010 using DomainTools.com showed the site was first registered on February 27, 2008, by an American company and hosted on a server in California. The site was taken down a few days after Awlaki praised Nidal Hasan’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009. Again, the most accessible copy of the blog, though it is incomplete, is at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/anwar-alawlaki.htm.
On May 31, 2008, he thanked the unnamed “brothers” Awlaki, “Assalamu Alaykum All,” http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com, May 31, 2008, archived at http://cryptome.org/anwar-alawlaki/08-0531.htm.
“This prison spell was a gift from Allah” Theo Padnos, “Anwar Awlaki’s Blog,” London Review of Books, January 28, 2010, http://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n02/theo-padnos/anwar-awlakis-blog. Padnos was himself briefly jailed in Sanaa and found his own credibility with Yemenis greatly enhanced. See Theo Padnos, Under cover Muslim: A Journey into Yemen (London: Bodley Head, 2011), 3–8, 191–205.
“After he was allowed out” Saleh bin Fareed al-Awlaki, interview, January 28, 2014, Aden.
9. WWW JIHAD
a group of young Canadians stood in a snowy Ontario field Michelle Shephard, “The Powerful Online Voice of Jihad,” Toronto Star, October 18, 2009, http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2009/10/18/the_powerful_online_voice_of_�
�jihad.html.
In March 2007, Albanian immigrant brothers Seth Jones, Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa’ida Since 9/11 (New York: W. W. Norton, 2012), 289–94.
three young PayPal employees were developing YouTube The History of YouTube, uploaded May 18, 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2NQiVcdZRY.
“He appreciated the power of the Internet” Rita Katz of the SITE Intelligence Group, e-mail to author, December 1, 2014.
“Extremists are more and more making extensive use of the internet” “Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July 2005,” Home Office, May 11, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/11_05_06_narrative.pdf, 31.
a pattern that drew legitimate criticism of the bureau’s counterterrorism tactics The most thoroughly reported and critical account of the bureau’s use of informants in terrorism prosecutions is Trevor Aaronson, The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism (Brooklyn, NY: Ig Publishing, 2013).
“If you were a second generation Muslim” Alexander Melagrou-Hitchens, e-mail interview, May 30, 2014. Hitchens, the son of the late writer Christopher Hitchens, is especially insightful on the subject of Awlaki’s religious evolution in “As American as Apple Pie: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad,” report, International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, 2011, http://icsr.info/2011/09/as-american-as-apple-pie-how-anwar-al-awlaki-became-the-face-of-western-jihad/.
Awlaki’s former fellow imam at Dar Al-Hijrah in Virginia, Johari Abdul Malik, began to warn young people away Johari Abdul Malik, interview, February 12, 2014.
Philip Mudd The quotations are from my interviews with Mudd in 2010 and 2013; see Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet, “Imam’s Path from Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad,” The New York Times, May 8, 2010; and Mark Mazzetti, Charlie Savage, and Scott Shane, “How a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America’s Crosshairs,” The New York Times, March 9, 2013.