Islamic cleric puts cartoonist Molly Norris on execution hit list for caricaturing Prophet Muhammed

WASHINGTON - Radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric Imam Anwar al-Awlaki has singled out ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed’ cartoonist Molly Norris as a “prime target”, by putting him on the execution hit list.

According to the New York Daily News, in “Inspire,” an English language Al Qaeda terrorist magazine, Awlaki damns Norris and eight others for “blasphemous caricatures” of Prophet Muhammed.

Awlaki, who also had been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers, singled out Norris as a “prime target,” saying her “proper abode is Hellfire.”

The other cartoonists, authors and journalists in Awlaki’s crosshairs are Swedish, Dutch and British citizens.

“The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved,” Awlaki wrote in the magazine.

“A soul that is so debased, as to enjoy the ridicule of the Messenger of Allah, the mercy to mankind; a soul that is so ungrateful towards its lord that it defames the Prophet of the religion Allah has chosen for his creation does not deserve life, does not deserve to breathe the air created by Allah and enjoy a life provided for by Allah. Their proper abode is Hellfire,” he added.

FBI officials have notified Norris and warned her they consider it a “very serious threat.”

Norris initially grabbed headlines in April when she published a satirical cartoon on her Web site that declared May 20th “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” as a way to mock Viacom and Comedy Central’s decision to censor an episode of “South Park” that showed the Prophet Mohammed dressed in a bear suit.

Soon after, the topic exploded on the Web with the start of a Facebook support group for Norris.

In response, Pakistan blocked access to the social networking site as a fiery pro-and-con debate raged worldwide.

Norris eventually backed away from her cartoon and cause.

“I regret that I made my cartoon the way I made it,” she said then. (ANI)