Christmas bomber my student

A radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric suspected of ties to Al-Qaida has said the Nigerian accused in the failed Christmas airliner attack was his student but that he didn't tell him to carry out the operation, Al-Jazeera television reported.

The US-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed by US officials to be working with Al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen, which has claimed responsibility for planning the attempt to
bomb an American passenger jet. Al-Awlaki also is known to have had contacts with the US Army major accused in the November 5 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base.

Yemeni officials have said they believe al-Awlaki met in Yemen with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the Christmas bombing.

Al-Awlaki, who is believed to be hiding in the remote mountains of Yemen, spoke in an interview with a Yemeni journalist who reported it to the Al-Jazeera website.

It was not clear when the interview took place or whether it took place in person. The journalist, one of the few said to have direct contacts with al-Awlaki, previously interviewed the cleric after the Fort Hood shooting.

"Brother mujahed Umar Farouk - may God relieve him - is one of my students, yes," al-Awlaki said in the interview, which Al-Jazeera reported on its website Tuesday. "We had kept in contact, but I didn't issue a fatwa to Umar Farouk for this operation," al-Awlaki was quoted as saying.

Al-Awlaki said he supported the Christmas attack, but it would have been better if the target was a US military target or plane.