Times Square Suspect...

...'inspired by radical cleric with links to Christmas Day plot and Fort Hood shootings'

The man suspected of attempting to bomb Times Square was inspired by a radical cleric with links to suspects in the failed Christmas Day plane bombing and the Fort Hood shootings, according to reports. Faisal Shahzad, 30, has told investigators that he watched Internet videos by the American-born, Yemeni based cleric, Anwar al-Aulaqi ahead of allegedly driving a weapon of mass destruction into the centre of New York. The cleric was the first American citizen to be placed on a list of most wanted by the CIA when the Obama administration authorised his killing in April. Mr al-Aulaqi is believed to be a recruitment officer for al-Qaeda and has been tied with the 9/11 terrorists as well as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, and Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in November at Fort Hood, Texas.

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