Al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is dead, says Yemen

Yemeni forces say they have killed US-born radical Muslim cleric, who has been linked to 9/11 and Fort Hood shootings Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born spiritual guru of al-Qaida’s most active grouping, has been killed, the Yemen defence ministry has said. The ministry said Yemeni forces killed Awlaki and some of his associates, though it did not say where and when. “The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions,” it said in a statement sent by text message to journalists. His death could not be immediately corroborated. The US-born civil engineer-turned radical Muslim cleric had been implicated in a botched attempt to bomb a US-bound plane in 2009. His internet sermons and his slick magazine Inspire had positioned him as a leading figure in the radical movement following the death in May of Osama bin Laden. Aged 40, he was young, eloquent, spoke English and Arabic and used Facebook and YouTube to exhort Muslims around the world to kill Americans. Yemen al-Qaida Middle East United States US national security September 11 2001 Global terrorism guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 30, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.