Muslim Cleric Puts "Everybody Draw Muhammed" Cartoonist On Hitlist

Molly Norris, the Seattle cartoonist who playfully called for an "Everybody Draw Muhammed Day" has been placed on an execution hitlist by an American Muslim cleric.

Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki - the radical who has also been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers - singled out artist Molly Norris as a "prime target," saying her "proper abode is hellfire." FBI officials have notified Norris and warned her they consider it a "very serious threat." In an English-language Al Qaeda magazine that calls itself "Inspire," Awlaki damns Norris and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of the Prophet Muhammed. The other cartoonists, authors and journalists in Awlaki's cross hairs are Swedish, Dutch and British citizens. The 67-page terror rag is seen by terrorism experts as a bald new attempt to reach and recruit Muslim youth in the West. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved," writes Awlaki, 39, a Las Cruces, N.M.-born American citizen.

Norris retracted her call for "Everybody Draw Muhammed Day" within days of it becoming internationally known. In the response to a Facebook support group for Norris, Pakistan blocked the site.