WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- An American-born Muslim cleric linked to terrorism liked pizza and call girls, investigative documents released under the Freedom of Information Act indicate.
The information on Anwar al-Awlaki was found in 348 pages of surveillance notes, public records and news articles compiled by the FBI that had been sought by conservative public policy group Judicial Watch, NBC News reported Tuesday.
Al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, came under FBI surveillance after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because he preached at a Washington mosque attended by three of the attackers. He was killed in a U.S. drone strike in September 2011.
Surveillance of the imam found he had at least seven encounters with prostitutes from Nov. 5, 2001, to Feb. 4, 2002, in which he spent $2,320.
The records document one occasion in which he ate at a gourmet pizza restaurant near George Washington University, where he was a chaplain.
He was linked to the attempted 2009 bombing of a jet at the Detroit airport for which Richard Reid was convicted of terrorism.
The documents also show al-Awlaki was arrested at a New York airport in October 2002 for passport fraud, but was ordered released by the FBI.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton charged in a statement the "preferential treatment" given al-Awlaki on that occasion "raises serious questions" about the relationship between the cleric and the U.S. government.
