Danish Spy Claims CIA Funded a Marriage Plot to Locate al-Awlaki

A former Danish intelligence operative alleged that the CIA paid him $250,000 to arrange a marriage for Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born al-Qaeda leader based in Yemen. According to the operative, the marriage was not a genuine matchmaking effort but a covert operation designed to plant a tracking device near al-Awlaki and determine his location for a targeted killing.

The claims were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in October 2012. The operative was identified as Morten Storm, a 36-year-old Danish citizen who converted to Islam and moved to Yemen in the late 1990s. Storm stated that he befriended numerous Islamic radicals during his years in Yemen but became disillusioned with their ideology in 2006 and offered his services to PET, Denmark’s intelligence agency.

How the Marriage Operation Allegedly Worked

Storm claimed that in 2009, al-Awlaki asked him to help find a European Muslim woman to become his third wife. Storm identified a Croatian woman — referred to as “Aminah” in reports — who had expressed sympathies for al-Awlaki on social media. He facilitated introductions between them through letters and video proposals.

According to Storm, the CIA provided a suitcase equipped with concealed tracking devices. The suitcase was given to Aminah — who was reportedly unaware of the intelligence operation — when she traveled to Yemen to meet al-Awlaki. The plan was to use the tracking device to pinpoint al-Awlaki’s location and carry out an airstrike.

The operation failed when al-Awlaki’s associates instructed Aminah to discard the suitcase upon her arrival. Despite the failed tracking attempt, al-Awlaki and Aminah did marry.

Connection to the 2011 Drone Strike

Storm further alleged that he contributed to the operation that ultimately killed al-Awlaki in a September 2011 drone strike in Yemen. He claimed to have continued exchanging messages with al-Awlaki using a USB storage device passed between intermediaries. Storm suggested that this device may have been the means by which U.S. intelligence pinpointed al-Awlaki’s location for the fatal strike.

Reports indicated that Aminah survived and was reportedly working for an al-Qaeda publication at the time the story broke.

Diplomatic and Legal Fallout in Denmark

The allegations alarmed some Danish citizens, who raised concerns that their government may have participated in what could be classified as an extrajudicial assassination. PET had previously stated it played no role in al-Awlaki’s death. The story also raised ethical questions about the alleged use of an uninformed civilian as unwitting bait in a lethal intelligence operation.

Disputed Credibility

Not everyone accepted Storm’s account. A Muslim community leader from Birmingham, England, who knew Storm during a period he lived in the country, publicly challenged his credibility. The community leader characterized Storm as a troublemaker who had attempted to radicalize young Muslims and was motivated by attention and money.

Storm countered that his radical persona was part of his intelligence cover and pointed to the existence of audio recordings linking him to al-Awlaki as corroboration. Neither PET nor the CIA commented publicly on the allegations.