How Anwar Awlaki Got Away

U.S. Attorney's Decision to Cancel Arrest Warrant "Shocked" Terrorism Investigators

By JOSEPH RHEE and MARK SCHONE
Nov. 30, 2009
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A felony arrest warrant for radical Islamic cleric Anwar al Awlaki was rescinded in 2002 a day before he was intercepted as a terror suspect at New York's JFK airport, forcing authorities to release him, according to sources familiar with the case. The warrant was cancelled by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver, even though Awlaki was on a terror watch list, and even though the office's supervising prosecutor for terror cases -- who has now been appointed by the Obama administration as the U.S. Attorney in Denver -- had been fully briefed on Awlaki's alleged terror ties, according to investigators.


Al Qaeda Recruiter New Focus in Fort Hood Killings Investigation
This SITE Intelligence Group handout photo obtained November 10, 2009 shows Anwar al-Awlaki, a former US resident living in Yemen and accused al-Qaeda supporter, who commented on his website on November 9, 2009, that the attack at Fort Hood perpetrated by the alleged gunman, Major Nidal Hasan, is a ?heroic act.? As officials advance the investigation into the Army Major who allegedly perpetrated last week?s massacre at Fort Hood, attention is turning to Anwar Awlaki, a top al Qaeda recruiter who was in contact with Major Nidal Hasan before last week?s shootings.

Soon after the 2002 warrant was canceled, Awlaki left the United States for good, settling in Yemen. Since his escape, Awlaki, now considered by intelligence officials to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, has been implicated as the spiritual inspiration for terror plots in Canada and the U.S., and was in e-mail contact with Major Nidal Malik Hasan, charged with 13 counts of murder in the recent mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE FORT HOOD SHOOTING. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FtHoodInvestigation/

The decision to cancel Awlaki's arrest warrant outraged members of a Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, which had been monitoring the imam. "This was a missed opportunity to get this guy under wraps so we could look at him under a microscope," said a former agent with the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), who asked not to be named. "He couldn't cause any harm from a prison cell."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FtHoodInv ... id=9200720