SANAA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Defense Ministry confirmed Thursday that cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is wanted on charges of ties with al-Qaida and association with a number of people involved in terrorist acts.

The ministry announced in a statement posted on its online website 26sep.net that Awlaki is also involved in acts that incited people to terrorist-related violence and hatred.

"Yemeni security agencies are currently tracking Awlaki," the ministry cited a security official as saying.

In response to including Awlaki into the hit list of "capture or kill" by the United States, the ministry quoted the security official as saying that "in case that Yemen receives from the U.S. any forensics or evidence that convicts Awlaki, the state (Yemen) would then act in accordance with the Yemeni constitution and law. "

"Yemeni security authorities continue to exert maximum efforts in tracking terrorist elements, as well as continuing cooperation with the international community in the fight against terrorism," said the official.

He pointed out that Anwar al-Awlaki was one of the elements targeted by security air raid of Yemen on Dec. 24, 2009, against a hideout of al-Qaida in the south-east province of Shabwa.

Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama's administration added al-Awlaki to the U.S. hit list of "capture or kill."

Awlaki, 38, became famous last year after it emerged that he had communicated extensively by email with Major Nidal Hasan, the army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas.

The cleric, who allegedly had ties with the 9/11 hijackers, later praised the Fort Hood killings and said Muslims should only serve in the U.S. military if they intended to carry out similar attacks.

He has also been linked to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jet last Christmas with explosives in his underwear.

Awlaki was born in New Mexico and spent years as an imam in the United States before moving to Yemen, where he is believed to remain in hiding.