How Anwar Aulaqi, Nidal Hasan's mentor, got away

A felony arrest warrant for radical Islamic cleric Anwar al Awlaki was rescinded in 2002 a day before he was intercepted as a terror suspect at New York’s JFK airport, forcing authorities to release him, according to sources familiar with the case. The warrant was cancelled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver, even though Awlaki was on a terror watch list, and even though the office’s supervising prosecutor for terror cases — who has now been named by President Obama as the new U.S. Attorney in Denver — had been fully briefed on Awlaki’s alleged terror ties, according to investigators…

The decision to cancel Awlaki’s arrest warrant outraged members of a Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, which had been monitoring the imam. “This was a missed opportunity to get this guy under wraps so we could look at him under a microscope,” said a former agent with the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), who asked not to be named. “He couldn’t cause any harm from a prison cell.”…

Gaouette, an assistant U.S. attorney since 1989, was appointed this August by President Obama as the U.S. Attorney for Colorado. When asked why Awlaki’s arrest warrant had been rescinded, a public affairs officer said Gaouette was unfamiliar with the particulars of the Awlaki case, and would have to research it before he could comment. Gaouette’s office did not reply to a request for a copy of the Awlaki arrest warrant. The clerk’s office for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado was also unable to provide a copy of the warrant, citing the age of the case and the fact that the warrant was rescinded.