Go after cleric, CIA told

Washington DC: The Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday announced it had added radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, suspected to be residing in Yemen, to its target list. This makes Awlaki only the second U.S. citizen since 2001 whom CIA agents have authorisation to kill or capture.

According to reports, the decision to put Awlaki on the “kill list” was taken after U.S. intelligence officials confirmed that he had a key operational role in terrorist attacks.

Reports in January cited U.S. security sources saying they had “concrete and independent confirmation” that Awlaki had met Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused in the botched Christmas day terror attack aboard an aircraft; and that Awlaki had contact with U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, last November.

Sources in the security establishment here said Awlaki played a key role in the transformation of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemeni wing of the terrorist network, into the “most active affiliate outside Pakistan and Afghanistan”.

Media reports said Awlaki was known for “delivering fiery sermons at U.S. mosques before moving to Yemen in 2004”. However, until his ties to terror suspect Major Hasan became clear, he was not considered an operational planner.