http://66.225.205.104/JR20111006a.mp3
The family of a young Charlotte man killed last week in Yemen issued its first public statement this morning, criticizing the U.S. government for the death. That statement sparked government action for the family of Samir Khan.
The Khan family has said absolutely nothing publicly during the last two years that Samir's name has been in the media: Not when it became clear he was operating a pro-al-Qaida website out of the family's home. Not when he left for Yemen and became the editor of al-Qaida's slick online magazine meant to recruit young jihadis. Not when a grand jury convened to investigate Samir Khan's activities last year.
And the family didn't make any public comment last Friday when Samir was killed in a U.S. attack on a convoy in Yemen that also killed another American Anwar Al-Awlaki. But today the Khan family released a written statement through Jibril Hough, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte. "Samir never broke any law and was never implicated of any crime," the family says. Without due process of law, the government "assassinated two of its citizens," the statement continues.
The Khan family also says it is "appalled by the indifference shown to us by our government."
"No U.S. official has contacted us" about Samir's death, says the family. Just a few hours after the media published that statement, Jibril Hough says Samir Khan's father got a "very apologetic" call from the U.S. State Department offering condolences to the family.