Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born radical cleric who was reportedly targeted this week by an American drone missile, called the September 11, 2001 attacks an accident just two days after they occurred.

Al-Awalaki spoke on camera to a local television station on September 13.

The mosque has been shut down, since the day of the accident, he said.

Al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, was the Imam at the Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in Virginia, which had been vandalized at the time.

We are now working on providing enough security so that we can meet with our community, he said.

U.S. Federal officials believe he is the man behind a failed Christmas day underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmtallab's attempt to destroy an American airliner.

A U.S. military drone fired a missile within two days in Yemen aimed at al-Awlaki, but did not appear to have killed him, a U.S. official told CNN.

The targeting information was not obtained from intelligence gathered from Osama bin Laden's compound last Sunday, according to the report.

The strike appeared to have killed to al-Qaeda linked operatives affiliated with al-Awlaki, the report said.

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