jihad 'is becoming as British as afternoon tea'

By Duncan Gardham

Anwar al-Awlaki profile: the Dickens-quoting preacher who boasted jihad 'is becoming as British as afternoon tea'

Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni preacher linked to the Christmas bomb plot, has become the British intelligence community's enemy number one.

Anwar al-Awlaki is thought to be hiding in southern Yemen Photo: AP

He has lived in both Britain and America, speaks to his devoted followers in impeccable English across the internet and has close ties to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular, from his current base in Yemen.

For those reasons, and many others, he has received name-checks in recent speeches by both the head of MI5 and MI6 – something Osama bin Laden has not.

In October, Sir John Sawers, the chief of MI6, described Awlaki as an “al-Qaeda leader” operating “from his remote base in Yemen,” who “broadcasts propaganda and terrorist instruction in fluent English, over the internet.”

Two months earlier Jonathan Evans, the director general of MI5, said of Awlaki: “His influence is all the wider because he preaches and teaches in the English language which makes his message easier to access and understand for Western audiences.”

“There is a real risk that one of his adherents will respond to his urging to violence and mount an attack in the UK, possibly acting alone and with little formal training.”

Awlaki’s side-kick, an American called Samir Khan, is also a significant concern because of the slick online magazine he has started producing called Inspire, which has included articles such as “how to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.”

In the second edition of the magazine, published last month, the 24 year-old former resident of North Carolina and New York City, wrote an article in which he said “I am proud to be a traitor to America” and described himself as “al-Qaeda to the core.”

It is the inspiration the pair are offering to “lone-wolf” operators that is causing MI5 and MI6 concern, coupled with the direct advice Awlaki has offered to Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, the failed Detroit bomber, who tried to blow himself up using a device hidden in his underpants on Christmas Day.

Awlaki quotes from Dickens, dismisses Shakespeare and David Attenborough, and once told followers during a lecture in London: “The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a kuffar [non-believer]. Do not trust them!”

He said in a statement in March: “Jihad [holy war] is becoming as American as apple pie and as British as afternoon tea.”

Born in New Mexico, he grew up in Yemen and moved to the US to study for a degree in civil engineering in Colorado and then a masters degree in education.

He preached at mosques in San Diego and Virginia where he was considered conservative – following the Middle East salafi school of Islam – but not extremist.

After September 11, however, it emerged that three of the September 11 hijackers had attended his mosques and one investigator told the 9/11 Commission he believed Awlaki was the men’s “spiritual adviser.”

Awlaki built up a base of extremist followers while living in London for two years until 2004 giving lectures at mosques, universities and closed study circles across the country.

He developed a following among terrorists and terrorist groomers, including the July 7, July 21 and trans-Atlantic airline bombers.

He has also been linked to Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in a rampage at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in November last year, and Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square, New York, has told investigators he was influenced by the preacher.

More recently he is said to have masterminded the air cargo plot that saw a sohpisticated explosive device disguised as a printer cartridge intercepted at East Midlands Airport.

The student who tried to murder Labour MP Stephen Timms during a constituency surgery was also inspired by his sermons online.