Anwar al-Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled Aulaqi ; Arabic: أنور العولقي Anwar al-‘Awlaqī ; born ( 1971-04-22 ) April 22, 1971 (age 55) in Las Cruces, New Mexico ) is an Islamic lecturer who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen, and of Yemeni descent. He is a spiritual leader and former imam who has purportedly inspired Islamic terrorists . U.S. government officials and numerous U.S. officials said that in addition to inspiring terrorism against the West, he also became “operational” as a senior talent recruiter, motivator and participates in planning and training "for al-Qaeda and all of its franchises." With a blog, a Facebook page, and many YouTube videos, he has been described as the " bin Laden of the internet." Al-Awlaki's sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers . He reportedly met privately with at least two of the hijackers, and one hijacker moved to and from the same cities as al-Awlaki, when each moved from San Diego, California to Falls Church, Virginia. Due in part to those contacts, investigators suspect al-Awlaki may have known about the 9/11 attacks in advance. In 2009, unnamed U.S. officials stated that he had been promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, as an inspirational, rather than operational, leader. His sermons were also attended by the accused Fort Hood shooter , Nidal Malik Hasan . In addition, U.S. intelligence intercepted at least 18 emails between Hasan and al-Awlaki from December 2008 to June 2009, including one in which Hasan wrote: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]." After the Fort Hood shooting , al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions. "Christmas Day bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki, and said he was one of his al-Qaeda trainers, involved in planning or preparing the attack, and provided religious justification for it, according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials. In March 2010, al‑Awlaki said in a videotape delivered to CNN that jihad against America was binding upon himself and every other able Muslim. President Barack Obama approved the targeted killing of al-Awlaki as officials explained it was appropriate for individuals that posed an imminent danger to national security. That step required the consent of the United States National Security Council , and made al-Awlaki the first U.S. citizen ever to be placed on the list of those whom the CIA is allowed to kill. In May 2010, Faisal Shahzad , suspected of the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt , told interrogators that he was "inspired by" al-Awlaki, and sources said Shahzad had made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet. "Fort Hood gunman Nidal Hasan 'is a hero': Imam who preached to 9/11 hijackers in Va. praises attack" . "Radical imam traces roots to New Mexico; Militant Islam cleric's father graduated from NMSU" . The Santa Fe New Mexican . The National (Abu Dhabi) . "Cleric says he was confidant to Hasan: In Yemen, al-Aulaqi tells of e-mail exchanges, says he did not instigate rampage" . The Blotter from Brian Ross . The Blotter from Brian Ross . Hood link in 'crotch' case" . The New York Post . Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric" . The Wall Street Journal . The Blotter from Brian Ross .

Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi ; Anwar al-‘Awlaqī ; April 21, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American and Yemeni imam and Islamic militant. US government officials said that he was a senior talent-recruiter and motivator who was involved in planning terrorist operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda , and he became the first United States citizen to be targeted and killed in a United States drone strike (his son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was also killed by an American drone strike two weeks later ). With a blog, a Facebook page, the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire , and many YouTube videos, the Saudi news station Al Arabiya described him as the " bin Laden of the Internet." After a request from the US Congress, in November 2010 Google removed many of al-Awlaki's videos from its websites. However, al-Awlaki's influence continues to be apparent amongst Islamists in the West and internationally, and his statements, articles and lectures are regularly cited and used as inspiration by extremists in the West and worldwide. As imam at a mosque in Falls Church, Virginia (2001–02), which had 3,000 members, al-Awlaki spoke with and preached to three of the 9/11 hijackers , who were al-Qaeda members. In 2001, he presided at the funeral of the mother of Nidal Malik Hasan , an Army psychiatrist who later e-mailed him extensively in 2008–09 before the Fort Hood shootings . During al-Awlaki's later radical period after 2006–07, when he went into hiding, he was associated with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , the Nigerian who attempted the 2009 Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner. Al-Awlaki was allegedly involved in planning the latter's attack. The Yemeni government began trying him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive." Some US officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, while others felt that Nasir Al-Wuhayshi still maintained this rank and that al-Awlaki was only by this point the most influential member in the group. He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, US President Barack Obama placed al-Awlaki on a list of people whom the US Central Intelligence Agency were authorized to kill because of terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in Southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The US deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once, before succeeding in a fatal American drone attack in Yemen on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki , a US citizen who was born in Denver , was killed by a CIA -led drone strike in Yemen. Nasser al-Awlaki, Anwar's father, released an audio recording condemning the killings of his son and grandson as senseless murders. In June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the United States Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. "Radical imam traces roots to New Mexico; Militant Islam cleric's father graduated from NMSU" . The Santa Fe New Mexican . The National (Abu Dhabi) . The Blotter from Brian Ross . "Cleric says he was confidant to Hasan: In Yemen, al-Aulaqi tells of e-mail exchanges, says he did not instigate rampage" . Hood link in 'crotch' case" . The New York Post . "Yemen charges U.S.-born cleric with plot to kill foreigners" , Associated Press. The Wall Street Journal . Los Angeles Times . : Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= ( help )

American imam and suspected Islamist extremist (1971–2011) Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki ( ; 21 or 22 April 1971 – 30 September 2011) was an American Islamic scholar and lecturer who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama . Al-Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a drone strike from the U.S. government. U.S. government officials argued that Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda , and in June 2014, a previously classified memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice was released, justifying al-Awlaki's death as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's constitutional right to due process , including a trial . Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico , in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partially in the United States and partially in Yemen, he attended various universities across the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s, while also working as an imam , despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release, Al-Awlaki's message started to become overtly supportive of violence, as he condemned the U.S. government's foreign policy towards Muslims. He was linked to Nidal Hasan , the convicted perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting , and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , who attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 . Additionally, three of the future September 11 attacks hijackers separately attended his sermons in the 1990s and early 2001. The Yemeni government tried him in absentia in November 2010, for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda, although they described his role as more "inspirational" than "operational." He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama due to his alleged terrorist activities. Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast Yemen in the last years of his life. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once; he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011. Two weeks later, al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki , a U.S. citizen who was born in Denver, Colorado, was also killed by a CIA-led drone strike in Yemen. His daughter, 8-year old Nawar al-Awlaki , was killed during a raid against Al Qaeda ordered by President Donald Trump in 2017. The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than before his death.

American-Yemeni Islamist extremist (1971–2011) Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki ( Arabic : أنور العولقي , romanized : Anwar al-'Awlaqī ; April 21, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama . Al-Awlaki was the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and assassinated by a U.S. government drone strike. U.S. government officials alleged that al-Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda . Al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico , in 1971 to parents from Yemen. Growing up partly in the United States and partly in Yemen, he attended various U.S. universities in the 1990s and early 2000s. He also worked as an imam despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education. Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom. He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006 and spent 18 months in prison before being released without facing trial. Following his release from Yemeni custody, Al-Awlaki had significantly radicalized , and began to speak overtly in support of violence, also condemning the U.S. government's foreign policy towards Muslims. He was linked to Nidal Hasan , the convicted perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting , and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab , who attempted to detonate a bomb on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 . The Yemeni government tried al-Awlaki in absentia in November 2010 for plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda. A Yemeni judge ordered that he be captured "dead or alive". U.S. officials said that in 2009, al-Awlaki was promoted to the rank of "regional commander" within al-Qaeda. He repeatedly called for jihad against the United States. In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a CIA kill list by President Barack Obama . Al-Awlaki's father and civil rights groups challenged the order in court. The U.S. deployed unmanned aircraft (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him, firing at and failing to kill him at least once. Al-Awlaki was killed on September 30, 2011. In June 2014, a previously classified memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice was released; the memorandum described al-Awlaki's killing as a lawful act of war. Civil liberties advocates have called the killing of al-Awlaki an extrajudicial execution that breached al-Awlaki's constitutional rights. The New York Times wrote in 2015 that al-Awlaki's public statements and videos had been more influential in inspiring acts of Islamic terrorism in the wake of his killing than they were before his death.