SANAA, Yemen, April 27 (UPI) -- A Muslim cleric born in New Mexico has been featured for the first time in a propaganda video released by al-Qaida operatives in Yemen, authorities said.
Anwar al-Awlaki, 39, had appeared in previous al-Qaida videos but never before had narrated an official video by the group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, CNN reported Tuesday.
In the video, Awlaki accused the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq of blaming market bombings on Islamic militants with a goal of getting Muslims to fight each other.
Awlaki, an al-Qaida recruiter, also accused the U.S. military of an airstrike in December that killed about 30 suspected al-Qaida militants in Yemen's Shabwa governorate. Local media had credited Yemeni forces for the attack.
Awlaki, who was born in Las Cruces, N.M., has been targeted by the United States for capture or assassination, authorities said.
