A US citizen was officially charged with treason on Wednesday by a federal grand jury in California, the first person to be charged with treason against the United States since the World War II era, the Justice Department announced.

Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam Al-Amriki, was indicted on federal charges of treason and providing material support to al Qaida, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty told a news conference.

"A charge of treason is exceptionally severe and it is not one we bring lightly," he said.

According to the indictment, Gadahn appeared in a series of al Qaida videos broadcast in the United States and elsewhere between October 2004 and September 2006.

In the videos, Gadahn acknowledged that he had joined al Qaida and declared "the streets of America shall run red with blood, casualties will be too many to count, and the next wave of attacks may come at any moment," McNulty said.

Gadahn, 28, "is an American citizen who made a choice; he chose to join our enemy and to provide it with aid and comfort by acting as a propagandist for al Qaida," he said.

The videotape messages praised the Sept. 11 attacks, threatened violence against the families of American soldiers and other civilians, and called on American soldiers to join al Qaida, McNulty noted.

Gadahn's last known address was Orange County, California, and was now a fugitive and believed to be living overseas, he said.
 
The FBI has been seeking Gadahn since 2004, and added him to its most wanted terrorist list on Wednesday.

The State Department would pay US$1 million for information leading to Gadahn's arrest, said Joe D. Morton, director of the department's Diplomatic Security Service.

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2006)