US citizen behind Al Qaeda magazine

WASHINGTON - A Saudi-born American citizen may be behind the new online English magazine published by terror outfit Al Qaeda, US officials claimed.

Samir Khan, who left the US in 2009 and now lives in Yemen, is responsible for several of the online blogs, Herald Sun quoted unnamed US officials as telling Fox News.

The online magazine Inspire was posted by the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemeni branch connected to US-born cleric Anwar al Awlaki, linked to both the Fort Hood massacre and the failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square.

Intelligence officials became aware of Khan several years ago when he began publishing English translations of Al Qaeda propaganda and videos produced by other militant groups.

Inspire, an anti-US blog, publishes articles with titles such as “How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom”.

Khan, who was born in Saudi Arabia and moved to the US when he was seven, had earlier started another blog called “Inshallahshaheed” in 2004.

Officials suspect Khan is involved with Inspire, because its content is similar in tone to work he published in his previous blog and posts on other Islamist sites.