| 48 hour rule definitely applies. |
31-year-old Adam Gadahn is often quoted by media and seen as a spokesman for Al-Qaeda in the region, as recently as the March 7, 2010, Adam Gadahn can be heard in video calling for attacks by Muslims on western nations.
Adam Gadahn was indicted for treason in 2006 by a federal grand jury for the capital crime of treason for aiding an enemy of the United States. Adam Gadahn was the first American charged with such a treason law since 1952. From as far back as 2004, Adam Gadahn has appeared in a number of videos produced by Al-Qaeda, identified as “Azzam the American.'
In 1995, at age 17, Gadahn began studying Islam at the Islamic Society of Orange County, California. Members of Gadahn's study group were young fundamentalists who “targeted the mosque's chairman, Haitham ‘Danny' Bundakji,' whom they referred to as ‘Danny the Jew' for his practice of “wearing Western clothes and being overly friendly with Jews.'
Gadahn converted to Islam later that year, and shortly thereafter posted an essay to the USC website describing his conversion, entitled “Becoming a Muslim.'
According to his parents, Adam was “arrested and convicted of assaulting his former mentor Haitham Bundakji in May 1997,' as seen in the picture above. He served two days in jail, but his failure to do 40 hours of community services leaves a warrant for his arrest active.
Gadahn reportedly moved to Pakistan in 1998, where he married an Afghan refugee and maintained intermittent contact with his family.
Details about Adam Gadahn's reported Pakistan capture are still forthcoming, but widely reported in Pakistan media, citing security sources.