- Texas congressman hits out at Obama-sanctioned drone attack on American Al Qaeda chief in Yemen
- Comments come as further drone strikes kill five Al Qaeda militants in the southern part of the country
Last updated at 11:11 AM on 6th October 2011
Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul told reporters at a press club lunch that they could be assassinated by their own government in the same way it targets Americans with ties to Al Qaeda
Paul was criticising President Obama for approving last week's drone strikes against an American citizen in Yemen based on secret intelligence that linked him to failed terrorist attacks against the U.S.
American-born Al Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in the attack in what American officials said was a major blow to the organization.
Threat: Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, told journalists at a National Press Club luncheon that they could be assassinated by their own government
He said: 'Can you imagine being put on a list because you're a threat? What's going to happen when they come to the media?
'What if the media becomes a threat? ... This is the way this works. It's incrementalism.
The Texas congressman was criticising Obama for approving the drone attack that killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to Al Qaeda
Anwar al-Awlaki, the target of the U.S. drone attack, was one of the best-known Al Qaeda figures after Osama bin Laden.
American intelligence officials had linked him to two thwarted attacks on U.S.- bound planes, an airliner on Christmas 2009 and cargo planes last year.
The second American killed in the drone attack, Samir Kahn, was the editor of Inspire, a slick online magazine aimed at Al Qaeda sympathizers in the West.
Paul likened the pair to German officials who carried out the Holocaust but were still given trials.
He added: 'All the Nazi criminals were tried. They were taken to court and then executed.
'The reason we do this is because we want to protect the rule of law.'
Paul, making his second run for the Republican presidential nomination, has built a die-hard following among the GOP's libertarian wing and has worked to court anti-war conservatives.
Yesterday another U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed five Al Qaeda-linked militants
The impoverished Arab state has been the centre of multiple uprisings since February, when President Saleh cracked down on protesters challenging his 33-year rule.
Yemen is believed by U.S. and other intelligence agencies to be a global planning and training center for Al Qaeda, but Yemeni officials rarely acknowledge the presence of foreigners fighting alongside homegrown militants.
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