By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer
Adam Gadahn, the American-born Al-Qaida member, made a
new videotape message that offers proof of life, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said. In a joint bulletin issued Saturday night to U.S. law-enforcement officials, the FBI and DHS said the videotape was likely made weeks ago, NBC News has learned. "The video probably was created in mid September," the FBI bulletin said.
The videotape is the first concrete evidence that Gadahn, the California-born Al-Qaida spokesman, was not killed in a Predator attack in North Waziristan in February, as some publications had speculated. Prior to the release of the videotape this weekend, Gadahn had not been seen or heard from since January 6. That’s when Gadahn released a videotape that threatened President Bush with “bombs and booby traps” during a visit to the Middle East, and when the Al Qaida propagandist ripped up his U.S. passport on camera and denounced his U.S. citizenship.
The FBI bulletin also predicts more messages from Al Qaida in the coming weeks. "We expect Al Qaida to release additional messages before the election" for U.S. president, the FBI/DHS notice said.
In the new videotape, Gadahn twice references the current American economic meltdown. He also mentions the election of Pakistani President Zardari, who took office in early September. "Whether it be the resignation of the tyrant Pervez and the election of Zardari or the renewed and frequent contacts between General Kiyani and the Americans and the subsequent escalation in attacks on the tribal regions by the Pakistan Army and the American forces or the escalating chaos and looming meltdown threatening the Crusaders' economic system," Gadahn said in the rambling, 32-minute taped message.
The former heavy-metal enthusiast turned FBI Most Wanted fugitive has vexed American officials for four years with his bombastic and sometimes threatening video taunts. This summer, U.S. officials launched an aggressive media campaign to try to smoke him out. In ads that ran on more than 30 radio stations in Afghanistan, the FBI and State Department asked for the public’s help in locating Gadahn. “Being a man means fighting for what is right, defending your family, your community and your country. Adam Yahiye Gadahn is not a man,” the radio spots said.
Produced in Dari and Pashtu, the ads continued: “Born American, he betrayed not only his family and his community but also his country. There is no way to trust someone who is willing to betray the very land they were born on. Now he is committing more atrocities against Afghanistan. Bring a traitor to justice; stop his atrocities from reaching you and your family."
The U.S. Rewards for Justice program has released wanted posters of Gadahn, and matchbooks emblazoned with his face. In 2006, federal prosecutors indicted Gadahn for treason and for providing material support to al-Qaida. The government is offering a reward of $1 million for information that leads to his arrest.
In an email statement today, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said, "The FBI and intelligence community partners will review the tape for any intelligence or lead value.”
