A radical Muslim cleric who bought plane tickets for three of the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackers was communicating with the FBI for years afterward as a likely informant.
Newly released internal documents indicate that
Anwar al-Awlaki, also known as the "bin Laden of the Internet," was emailing and leaving voicemails with an FBI agent in 2003 and 2004, after having been captured at JFK International Airport in 2002 but released at the instruction of the agency.
The documents were obtained by the government watchdog
Judicial Watch as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI.
In one email, al-Awlaki wrote:
"I was astonished by some of the talk circulating in the media about me... The Guardian newspaper in the U.K. mentioned that the U.S. authorities are looking for me in the U.K. while Time magazine mentions that they are looking for me in Yemen.
"Well in both countries I could be easily accessed. Even though I have nothing more to say than what I did at our previous meetings I just wanted to let you know that I am around and available. I am amazed at how absurd the media could be and I hope that the US authorities know better and realize that what was mentioned about me was nothing but lies."
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement, "These new documents raise troubling questions about the FBI's dealings with Anwar al-Awlaki, a known terrorist that the FBI knew had facilitated the 9/11 attacks."
Al-Awlaki linked up with an al-Qaida affiliate responsible for subsequent terrorist plots against the United States.
Aside from his links to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he is suspected of being involved in the 2009 Fort Hood attack that killed 13 American soldiers and wounded many others; an attempted bombing of a plane over Detroit in 2009; and an attempt to bomb Times Square in 2010. He is also believed to have helped modernize al-Qaida's recruitment activities throughout the world.
The 9/11 Commission Task Force sought to track him down and interview him but the newly released emails show the FBI refused to facilitate contact.
Al-Awlaki ultimately was the
first American to be killed in a drone strike in Yemen ordered by President Barack Obama in 2011.
"The FBI's refusal to assist the 9/11 Commission is an outright scandal that deserves further scrutiny. I have little doubt that President Obama assassinated a terrorist that was an asset of the U.S. government," Fitton said but added that it's unclear how much Obama knew about al-Awlaki's connections to law enforcement.
"There have been so many missed opportunities in getting the bad guys, but it's one thing to have a bad guy working with you and for you and actually in your custody and then letting them go,"
he told Fox News.
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