U.S. officials believe with a high degree of confidence that a missing Southern Californian, Adam Gadahn, is the self-described American al Qaeda who threatened to kill thousands of his countrymen in a videotape obtained and broadcast by ABC News two weeks ago. "No, my fellow countrymen you are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty," the man identified only as "Azzam the American" said. "After decades of American tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims."
A senior U.S. official says officials concluded that Azzam the American was Gadahn after speaking to his family in Southern California, showing the tape to captured al Qaeda operatives, and conducting weeks of technical analysis. Although all indications are of a positive match, officials do caution that there is a small margin of error in the analysis and they cannot be absolutely certain of the speaker's identity. Among other steps, intelligence officials compared the voice of Azzam to footage of a teenage Gadahn discussing environmental projects nearly 10 years ago on a cable television segment in California. Gadahn, who would now be 26, is wanted for questioning by the FBI in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a May press conference that Gadahn was associated with al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan, and that he attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. "He is known to have performed translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided to al Qaeda," Mueller said. |