Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square, says he was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, a militant Yemeni-American cleric, according to a report in the New York Times.
A US official said this week that in addition to Shahzad, al-Awlaki had provoked other attacks and plots with his violent rhetoric.
“He listened to him, and he did it,” the official said, referring to Shahzad's bungled attempted bombing in Times Square.
Friends of the bombing suspect revealed that the talkative suspect had gone as far as to ask his father’s blessing to enlist in the fight in Afghanistan against American and coalition forces.
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