American Imam Connected to Ft. Hood Shooter

An American-born Muslim radical, Imam Anwar Al Awlaki may be a man who connects the dots. On his web site Monday, he praised major Nidal Hasan as a hero for the killings at Fort Hood. The FBI confirms the Imam and Major had even exchanged emails.

Imam Anwar also knew three of the 9-11 hijackers.

With his videos on the internet, Imam Anwar's influence is reaching the Twin Cities too. Somali community activist Omar Jamal says those videos, calling for a global jihad against the west, motivated several of the missing Minnesota men to travel back to Somalia to fight for the Al Qaeda linked militant group Al Shabab.

Sources in the Somali community told FOX 9 Imam Anwar was in the Twin Cities several years ago. He allegedly spoke at a mosque here in the Cedar Riverside area, which was torn down a couple of years ago.

Back in 2001, Awlaki was the imam of the Virginia mosque, where Major Hasan attended. Since 2004, Awlaki has been living in exile in Yemen, spreading the word through videos and his English language web site.