His father has said in Sanaa that Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki will end his anti-American rhetoric if taken off a Washington hit list.

It was said by Washington last week that it was targeting Yemeni cleric and U. S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in part for his role as an ideologue for al-Qaida.

The rhetoric against the United States would stop if Washington took his son off its hit list, Nassar al-Awlaki, his father, told al-Jazeera Monday.

He further said, "If Washington stops targeting (my son) by threatening to abduct, capture or kill him, Anwar will cease his statements and speeches against it."

However, it wasn't clear if the elder Awlaki had spoken with the cleric.

Awlaki in a March audiotape called for war against the United States. He has ties to the would-be bomber of a U. S. passenger plane targeted Christmas Day and U. S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, accused in the Fort Hood, Texas shooting rampage in November.

CNN was told by his father last week that he may be able to coax the cleric out of hiding in Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of the terrorist cabal, is helping fuel an insurgency.

Meanwhile it was said by Yemeni officials during the weekend that they considered Awlaki "a preacher rather than a terrorist." (With Inputs from Agencies)