Yemen cleric's father says son wants off US hit list

[sabra]

Source: AFP

DUBAI — The father of a radical Islamic cleric in Yemen who is on a Washington hit list has said his son would stop anti-US messages if taken off the list, Al-Jazeera television reported Monday.

Anwar al-Awlaqi, a US-born cleric with alleged links to Al-Qaeda has been placed on the hit list for directly plotting against the United States, a US intelligence official said last week.

The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera quoted the cleric's father, Nasser al-Awlaqi, as saying that if Washington stops targeting Anwar by threatening to abduct, capture, or kill him, his son would cease his anti-US statements and speeches.

Nasser al-Awlaqi is a former minister of agriculture and rector at the University of Sanaa.

The news channel did not clarify if the offer had Awlaqi's consent.

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