Yemen ‘will not hand over al-Qaida linked cleric to US’

YEMEN will refuse to hand over a US-born, al-Qaida-linked cleric to the United States if he is captured because its law bans extradition of citizens, an official said yesterday.

Yemeni-American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed to be hiding in Yemen since 2004. The US says he is an active al-Qaida recruiter and has placed him on the CIA’s list of terrorist targets to be killed or captured, despite his American citizenship. Yemen’s al-Qaida offshoot last month released a video of al-Awlaki calling for the killing of Americans.

Al-Awlaki is also believed to have helped inspire recent attacks in the US, including the Fort Hood shooting, the Times Square bombing attempt and the failed Christmas Day airline bombing.