SAN’A, Yemen (AP) – Yemen says it will not hunt down a radical US-born cleric who has reportedly been added to the CIA’s list of targets to be killed or captured.

Yemen’s foreign minister says the U.S. has not handed over evidence to support allegations Anwar al-Awlaki is recruiting for Al Qaeda’s offshoot in the impoverished country on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Obama administration has authorized his killing because it believes he has shifted from encouraging attacks on the U.S. to participating in them, The New York Times reported this week.

Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said Saturday that al-Awlaki is not a terrorist. Security officials believe he is hiding in an area of Yemen that has become a refuge for Islamic militants.