Просмотр кода страницы Английская Википедия:Anwar al-Awlaki

{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Short description|American imam and suspected Islamist extremist (1971–2011)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Anwar al-Awlaki<br />أنور العولقي
| image              = Anwar al-Awlaki sitting on couch, lightened.jpg
| caption            = Anwar al-Awlaki in 2008
| birth_name         = Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki
| birth_date         = April 21 or 22, 1971<ref name="foxnews2"/><ref name=att/>
| birth_place        = [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]], United States
| death_date         = September 30, 2011 (aged 40)
| death_place        = {{nowrap|[[Al Jawf Governorate]], [[Yemen]]<ref name="msnbc">{{cite web|date=September 30, 2011 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44730882 |title=Born in US, Al-Awlaki was his birth nation's sworn enemy |work=[[NBC News]] |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref>}}
| death_cause        = [[Drone strike]]
| citizenship        = United States
| alma_mater         = {{plainlist|
* [[Colorado State University]] (B.S.)
* [[George Washington University]] (Ph.D., incomplete)
}}
| occupation         = {{Flatlist|
* Lecturer
* cleric
* [[imam]]
}}
| known_for          = {{nowrap|Lectures across Asia and the Middle East; <br/> ''[[Inspire (magazine)|Inspire]]'' magazine; and [[spokesman]]<ref name="washingtonpost3"/><ref>{{cite news |date=30 September 2011 |first=Jessica |last=Rettig |archive-date=2012-09-19 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919035208/http://www.usnews.com/mobile/articles_mobile/death-of-anwar-al-awlaki-doesnt-solve-yemens-problems |url=http://www.usnews.com/mobile/articles_mobile/death-of-anwar-al-awlaki-doesnt-solve-yemens-problems |title=Death of Anwar Al Awlaki Doesn't Solve Yemen's Problems |work=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=October 1, 2011 }}</ref>}}
| children           = 5<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33841279|title=U.S. imam wanted in Yemen over Al-Qaida suspicions |work=NBC News |date=November 10, 2009 |first1=Ahmed |last1=al-Haj |first2=Donna |last2=Abu-Nasr |agency=Associated Press |access-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> (including [[Abdulrahman al-Awlaki|Abdulrahman]] and [[Nawar al-Awlaki|Nawar]])
| parents            = [[Nasser al-Awlaki]] (father)
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki''' ({{lang-ar|أنور العولقي|translit=Anwar al-'Awlaqī}}; 21 or 22 April 1971{{Snd}}30 September 2011) was an American Islamic scholar and lecturer who was killed in [[Drone strikes in Yemen|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.<ref>{{cite web |first=Gal Perl |last=Finkel |url=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-new-strategy-against-ISIS-483521 |title=A New Strategy Against ISIS |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=March 7, 2017 |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref><ref name="BBC death">{{cite news |date=September 30, 2011 |title=Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki 'killed in Yemen' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15121879 |access-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref name=lauterphelps/> Civil liberties advocates have described the incident as "an extrajudicial execution" that breached al-Awlaki's constitutional right to [[due process]], including a [[trial]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Nelson |first=Steven |date=June 23, 2014 |title=Drone Memo Justifying Assassination of U.S. Citizen Released |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/23/drone-memo-assassination-us-citizen-anwar-al-awlaki-released|access-date=February 18, 2019 |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

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,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rhee|first1=Joseph|last2=Schone|first2=Mark|date=November 29, 2009|title=How Anwar Awlaki Got Away|work=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FtHoodInvestigation/anwar-awlaki/story?id=9200720&singlePage=true|access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref> while also working as an [[imam]], despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education.<ref name="obituary">{{cite news|last1=Burke|first1=Jason|date=October 2, 2011|title=Anwar al-Awlaki obituary|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/02/anwar-al-awlaki|access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref> Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004 and became a university lecturer<ref name="BBC Obituary">{{cite news|date=September 30, 2011|title=Obituary: Anwar al-Awlaki|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11658920|access-date=September 18, 2020}}</ref> after a brief stint as a public speaker in the United Kingdom.<ref name="obituary" /> He was detained by Yemeni authorities in 2006, where he spent 18 months in prison<ref name="BBC Obituary" /> before being released without facing trial.<ref name="obituary" /> 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.<ref name="BBC Obituary" />

The Yemeni government tried him ''[[trial in absentia|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".<ref name="www.msnbc.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-awlaki-idUKTRE6A110M20101102 |title=Yemen charges U.S.-born cleric with plot to kill foreigners |work=[[Reuters]] |date=November 2, 2010 |access-date=November 2, 2010 |first1=Mohammed |last1=Ghobari |first2=Raissa |last2=Kasolowsky }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite web |date=November 8, 2010|title=Cleric says American 'devils' must die |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/11/08/Cleric-says-American-devils-must-die/UPI-61991289245343 |access-date=November 8, 2010 |work=United Press International }}</ref> 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."<ref name="washingtonpost1">{{cite news |last1=Sudarsan |first1=Raghavan |first2=Michael D. |last2=Shear |date=December 25, 2009 |title=U.S.-aided attack in Yemen thought to have killed Aulaqi, 2 al-Qaeda leaders |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/24/AR2009122400536.html |access-date=December 25, 2009}}</ref> He repeatedly called for ''[[jihad]]'' against the United States.<ref name="CNNtape">{{Cite news |last=Newton |first=Paula |date=March 10, 2010 |title=Purported al-Awlaki message calls for jihad against US |work=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/17/al.awlaki.message/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419233413/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/17/al.awlaki.message/index.html|archive-date=April 19, 2010}}</ref><ref name="nytimes4">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/world/middleeast/09awlaki.html |first1=Scott |last1=Shane |first2=Robert |last2=Worth |title=Challenge Heard on Move to Kill Qaeda-Linked Cleric |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 8, 2010 |access-date=November 11, 2010 }}</ref> In April 2010, al-Awlaki was placed on a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] [[kill list]] by President [[Barack Obama]] due to his alleged terrorist activities.<ref name="washingtonpost2">{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Greg |date=April 6, 2010|title=Muslim cleric Aulaqi is 1st U.S. citizen on list of those CIA is allowed to kill |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040604121.html |access-date=April 9, 2010}}</ref><ref name="nytimes1" /><ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |last=Leonard |first=Tom |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Barack Obama orders killing of US cleric Anwar al-Awlaki|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7564581/Barack-Obama-orders-killing-of-US-cleric-Anwar-al-Awlaki.html |access-date=April 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411042550/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7564581/Barack-Obama-orders-killing-of-US-cleric-Anwar-al-Awlaki.html|archive-date=April 11, 2010}}</ref> Al-Awlaki's father and [[civil rights]] groups challenged the order in court.<ref name="washingtonpost2" /><ref name="telegraph" /><ref>{{cite web |date=September 13, 2012 |title=Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta; American Civil Liberties Union |url=https://www.aclu.org/national-security/al-aulaqi-v-panetta|access-date=October 23, 2012 |publisher=ACLU}}</ref><ref name="Perez">{{cite news |last=Perez |first=Evan |date=December 8, 2010|title=Judge Dismisses Targeted-Killing Suit |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703296604576005391675065166 |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref> Al-Awlaki was believed to be in hiding in southeast [[Yemen]] in the last years of his life.<ref name="www.msnbc.com" /> The U.S. deployed [[unmanned aerial vehicle|unmanned aircraft]] (drones) in Yemen to search for and kill him,<ref name="drones deployed"/> firing at and failing to kill him at least once;<ref>{{cite news|date=May 6, 2011|title=Anwar al-Awlaki Targeted By U.S. Drones After Osama Bin Laden Raid|work=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/anwar-al-awlaki-targeted-us-drones-osama-bin/story?id=13549218|access-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> he was successfully killed on September 30, 2011.<ref name="BBC death" /> 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 [[unmanned combat air vehicle|drone strike]] in Yemen.<ref name="wapo_son">{{cite news |last=Erdbrink |first=Thomas |date=October 18, 2011 |title=Anwar al-Awlaki's family speaks out against his son's death in airstrike |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/anwar-al-awlakis-family-speaks-out-against-his-sons-deaths/2011/10/17/gIQA8kFssL_story.html |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kasinof |first=Laura |date=October 15, 2011 |title=Fatal Airstrikes Hit Yemen as Protest Violence Escalates |newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/world/middleeast/yemeni-security-forces-fire-on-protesters-in-sana.html |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref> His daughter, 8-year old [[Nawar al-Awlaki]], was killed during [[Raid on Yakla|a raid]] against Al Qaeda ordered by President [[Donald Trump]] in 2017.<ref name="uk.reuters.com">{{Cite news |last1=Ghobari |first1=Mohammed |last2=Stewart |first2=Phil |date=January 29, 2017 |title=Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-yemen-qaeda-idUKKBN15D094 |access-date=January 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109232822/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-yemen-qaeda-idUKKBN15D094 |archive-date=November 9, 2021}}</ref><ref name="npr.org">{{cite news |last=Myre |first=Greg |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/01/29/512304675/trump-aims-for-big-splash-in-taking-on-terror-fight |title=Trump Aims For Big Splash In Taking On Terror Fight |work=[[NPR]] |date=January 29, 2017 |access-date=January 29, 2017 }}</ref> ''[[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.<ref name="Lessons">{{cite magazine |last=Shane |first=Scott |date=August 27, 2015|title=The Lessons of Anwar al-Awlaki |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/magazine/the-lessons-of-anwar-al-awlaki.html |magazine=The New York Times Magazine}}</ref>

==Early life==
Anwar al-Awlaki was born in [[Las Cruces, New Mexico]], US in 1971 to parents from Yemen, while his father, [[Nasser al-Awlaki]], was doing graduate work at U.S. universities. His father was a [[Fulbright Scholar]]<ref name="csmonitor1">{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0831/Anwar-al-Awlaki-ACLU-wants-militant-cleric-taken-off-US-kill-list |first=Warren |last=Richey |title=Anwar al-Awlaki: ACLU wants militant cleric taken off US 'kill list' |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|date=August 31, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101022165147/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0831/Anwar-al-Awlaki-ACLU-wants-militant-cleric-taken-off-US-kill-list |archive-date=October 22, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> who earned a master's degree in agricultural economics at [[New Mexico State University]] in 1971, received a doctorate at the [[University of Nebraska]], and worked at the [[University of Minnesota]] from 1975 to 1977.<ref name="rad">{{Cite news|url=http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Radical-imam-traces-roots-to-N-M-|title=Radical imam traces roots to New Mexico; Militant Islam cleric's father graduated from NMSU|last=Sharpe|first=Tom|date=November 14, 2009|newspaper=[[The Santa Fe New Mexican]]|access-date=December 1, 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105012908/http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Radical-imam-traces-roots-to-N-M-|archive-date=January 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name=rag/> Nasser al-Awlaki served as Agriculture Minister in [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]]'s government. He was also President of [[Sana'a University]].<ref name=rad /><ref name=rag>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/09/AR2009120904422.html |last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |date=December 10, 2009 |title=Cleric linked to Fort Hood attack grew more radicalized in Yemen |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 10, 2009}}</ref><ref name="nytimes homegrown">{{Cite news|last=Shane|first=Scott|date=November 18, 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/us/19awlaki.html|title=Born in U.S., a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=November 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906163237/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/us/19awlaki.html| archive-date=September 6, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Holmes |first=Oliver |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2030277,00.html |title=Why Yemen Hasn't Arrested Terrorist Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki |magazine=Time |date=November 5, 2009 |access-date=November 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112005349/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C2030277%2C00.html |archive-date=November 12, 2010 }}</ref> Yemen's [[Prime Minister of Yemen|prime minister]] from 2007 to 2011, [[Ali Mohammed Mujur]], was a relative.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Newton|first=Paula|date=February 2, 2010|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/02/02/yemen.terror.plea.exclusive/|title=Al-Awlaki's father asks Obama to end manhunt|publisher=CNN|access-date=February 2, 2010}}</ref>

The family returned to Yemen in 1978, when al-Awlaki was seven years old.<ref name="usatoday1">{{cite news|last=Madhani|first=Aamer|date=August 25, 2010|title=Cleric al-Awlaki dubbed 'bin Laden of the Internet'|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-08-25-1A_Awlaki25_CV_N.htm|access-date=October 30, 2010}}</ref><ref name="UPI">{{Cite news |title=Imam in Fort Hood case born in New Mexico |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/11/Imam-in-Fort-Hood-case-born-in-New-Mexico/UPI-43701257982479/ |work=[[United Press International]] |date=November 11, 2009 |access-date=November 13, 2009}}</ref> He lived there for 11 years, and studied at Azal Modern School.<ref name="nytimes2">{{cite news|last=Shane |first=Scott|author2=Souad Mekhennet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html |title=Anwar al-Awlaki&nbsp;– From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 8, 2010 |access-date=May 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511054051/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html |archive-date=May 11, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Life in the United States 1990–2002 ==

=== Education ===
In 1991, al-Awlaki returned to the U.S. to attend college. He earned a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] in [[civil engineering]] from [[Colorado State University]] (1994), where he was president of the [[Muslim Student Association]].<ref name="nytimes2"/> 
In 1993, while still a college student in Colorado State's civil engineering program, al-Awlaki visited [[Afghanistan]] in the aftermath of the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet occupation]]. He spent some time training with the ''[[mujahideen]]'' who had fought the Soviets. He was depressed by the country's poverty and hunger, and "wouldn't have gone with al-Qaeda," according to friends from Colorado State, who said he was profoundly affected by the trip.<ref name="usatoday1" /><ref name="ghosh" /><ref name="criticalthreats">{{Cite news |url=http://www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/militant-islams-global-preacher-radicalizing-effect-sheikh-anwar-al-awlaki|last=Zimmerman|first=Katherine |date=March 12, 2010 |title=Preacher: The Radicalizing Effect of Sheikh Anwar al Awlaki|newspaper=[[American Enterprise Institute]]|access-date=May 15, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526032647/http://www.criticalthreats.org/yemen/militant-islams-global-preacher-radicalizing-effect-sheikh-anwar-al-awlaki |archive-date=May 26, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Mullah]] [[Mullah Omar|Mohammed Omar]] did not form the [[Taliban]] until 1994. When Al-Awlaki returned to campus, he showed increased interest in religion and politics.<ref name="nytimes2" /> Al-Awlaki studied [[Leadership studies|Education Leadership]] at [[San Diego State University]], but did not complete his degree. He worked on a doctorate in Human Resource Development at [[The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development]] from January to December 2001.<ref name="inf" /><ref name="rag" /><ref name="911report ch7">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch7.pdf |author=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |date=July 22, 2004 |title=9–11 Commission Report |chapter=Chapter 7, The Attack Looms|pages=221, 229–30|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|access-date=May 12, 2010}}</ref><ref name="911report append">{{cite book |section-url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_App.pdf|author=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |date=July 22, 2004|title=9–11 Commission Report|section=Appendix|page=434|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|access-date=May 12, 2010}}</ref><ref name="wash post">{{Cite news|last=Schmidt|first=Susan|date=February 26, 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022603267.html|title=Imam From Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=November 20, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/technology/ci_13897548 |last=Crummy|first=Karen E|title=Warrant withdrawn in 2002 for radical cleric who praised Fort Hood suspect |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=December 1, 2009|access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2009/12/01/colo-feds-look-at-fort-hood-connection-to-cleric/ |url-status=live |title=Colo. feds look at Fort Hood connection to cleric |date=December 1, 2009 |work=[[Denver Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929131138/https://www.denverpost.com/2009/12/01/colo-feds-look-at-fort-hood-connection-to-cleric/ |agency=Associated Press |access-date=29 September 2023 |archive-date=September 29, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwhatchet.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=0c121487-eaa2-4bb2-a14d-08d373e149a4 |last=Rooney |first=Katie |title=Ex-student and chaplain tied to 9/11 hijackers in report |work=The GW Hatchet |date=September 6, 2005 |access-date=May 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091230224820/http://www.gwhatchet.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=0c121487-eaa2-4bb2-a14d-08d373e149a4 |archive-date=December 30, 2009}}</ref>

=== Time as imam ===
In 1994, al-Awlaki [[cousin marriage|married a cousin]] from Yemen,<ref name="nytimes2" /> and began service as a part-time [[imam]] of the Denver Islamic Society. In 1996, he was chastised by an elder for encouraging a Saudi student to [[First Chechen War|fight in Chechnya]] against the Russians.<ref name="nytimes2" /><ref>{{cite web |first=Steven |last=Emerson |url=http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7926/pub_detail.asp |title=The Awlaki Effect |publisher=Family Security Matters |date=November 16, 2010 |access-date=November 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129235406/http://familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.7926/pub_detail.asp |archive-date=November 29, 2010 |author-link=Steven Emerson }}</ref> He left Denver soon after, moving to San Diego.<ref name="NYT: path to terror">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html |title=Imam's Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad |first1=Scott |last1=Shane |first2=Souad |last2=Mekhennet |first3=Robert F. |last3=Worth |date=May 8, 2010 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511054051/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html |archive-date=May 11, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

From 1996 to 2000, al-Awlaki was imam of the [[Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami]] mosque in [[San Diego, California]], where he had a following of 200–300 people.<ref name="foxnews2">{{cite web |title=Anwar Nasser Aulaqi |date=September 26, 2001 |access-date=October 1, 2011 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/2001_09_26.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629042349/http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/2001_09_26.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-29 |publisher=Fox News}}</ref><ref name="inf">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw1mHo6zjKwC&pg=PT351 |last=Sperry |first=Paul E. |title=Infiltration: how Muslim spies and subversives have penetrated Washington|publisher=Thomas Nelson Inc|isbn=978-1-59555-003-3 |access-date=December 1, 2009|year=2005}}</ref><ref name="nytimes2" /><ref name="ghosh" /><ref name="wash post" /><ref name="cha">{{Cite news |url=http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030725-9999_1n25report.html |last=Thornton |first=Kelly |date=July 25, 2003|title=Chance to Foil 9/11 Plot Lost Here, Report Finds|newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]]|access-date=May 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224023651/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030725-9999_1n25report.html|archive-date=February 24, 2011}}</ref> U.S. officials later alleged that [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]] and [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], hijackers of [[American Airlines Flight 77]], attended his sermons and personally met him during this period, although Al-Awlaki told authorities their conversations were trivial in nature.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB529-Anwar-al-Awlaki-File/documents/5c)%20FBI%20302%20from%20Sept.%2019,%202001%20interview%20with%20Awlaki%20and%20lawyer.pdf |title=FBI Interview Transcript with Anwar Al-Awlaki |last=Federal Bureau of Investigation |date=September 21, 2001 |website= |publisher=National Security Archive |access-date=September 6, 2022 |quote=he could not remember any specific conversation with AL-HAZMI, most of them were usually trivial in nature.}}</ref> Hazmi later lived in [[Northern Virginia]] and attended al-Awlaki's mosque there. The ''[[9/11 Commission Report]]'' said that the hijackers "reportedly respected [al-Awlaki] as a religious figure".<ref name=how /><ref name="nytimes2" /><ref name="911report ch7" /><ref name=cha /> While in San Diego, al-Awlaki volunteered with youth organizations, fished, discussed his travels with friends, and created a popular and lucrative series of recorded lectures.<ref name="nytimes2" />

In August 1996 and in April 1997, al-Awlaki was arrested in San Diego and charged with [[solicitation|soliciting]] prostitutes.<ref name=how /><ref name="nytimes homegrown" /><ref name=shop /><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://chitraragavan.com/usnews/plot.pdf |title=The imam's very curious story |first=Chitra |last=Ragavan |date=June 13, 2004 |magazine=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=November 18, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129021545/http://chitraragavan.com/usnews/plot.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first time, in 1996, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $400 and required to attend informational sessions about [[AIDS]].<ref name=shop /> The second time, in 1997, he pleaded guilty and was fined $240, ordered to perform 12 days of [[community service]], and received three years' probation.<ref name=shop /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/anwar-al-aulaqis-death-reopens-wounds-for-dar-al-hijrah-mosque-in-falls-church/2011/09/30/gIQAFUSJAL_story.html |title=Anwar al-Aulaqi's death reopens wounds for Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=November 18, 2014 |first1=Michelle |last1=Boorstein |first2=Kafia A. |last2=Hosh |date=October 1, 2011}}</ref> From November 2001 to January 2002 the FBI observed him visiting a number of prostitutes, and interviewed them, establishing that he had paid for sex acts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/awlaki-fbi-file |title=Awlaki FBI File |author=FBI |date=January 11, 2015}}</ref> No prosecution was brought.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=29 September 2023 |url=https://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/terrorists-inspired-by-whoremaster-awlaki-786452 |title=Terrorists Get Inspired By A Whoremaster |website=[[The Smoking Gun]] |date=January 11, 2015}}</ref>

In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice-president for the [[Charitable Society for Social Welfare]]. Although the FBI investigated al-Awlaki from June 1999 through March 2000 for possible links to [[Hamas]], the Bin Laden contact [[Ziyad Khaleel]], and a visit by an associate of [[Omar Abdel Rahman]],<ref name="nytimes2" /> it did not find sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.<ref name=inf /><ref name=how>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/FtHoodInvestigation/anwar-awlaki/story?id=9200720 |last1=Rhee |first1=Joseph |last2=Mark |first2=Schone |date=November 30, 2009 |work=[[ABC News]] |title=How Anwar Awlaki Got Away |access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref><ref name="wash post" /><ref name=cha /><ref name=nef>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefabackgrounder_alawlaki.pdf |publisher=The [[NEFA Foundation]]|date=February 5, 2009 |title=Anwar al Awlaki: Pro Al-Qaida Ideologue with Influence in the West: A NEFA Backgrounder on Anwar al Awlaki |access-date=December 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306174440/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefabackgrounder_alawlaki.pdf |archive-date=March 6, 2009 }}</ref>{{why?|date=May 2013|text=is this relevant?}} In 2004, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] described this group as a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists".<ref name="wash post" /><ref name="Charity">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9947-2004Feb26.html|last=Hays |first=Tom|title=FBI Eyes NYC 'Charity' in Terror Probe|agency=Associated Press|date=February 26, 2004|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref>  Al-Awlaki told reporters that he resigned from leading the San Diego mosque "after an uneventful four years," and took a brief [[sabbatical]], traveling overseas to various countries.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sandiego/access/82925254.html?dids=82925254:82925254&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+01%2C+2001&author=Joe+Cantlupe+and+Dana+Wilkie&pub=The+San+Diego+Union+-+Tribune&desc=Muslim+leader+criticizes+arrests+%7C+Cleric+knew+2+men+from+S.D.+mosque&pqatl=google |author1=Cantlupe, Joe |author2=Wilkie, Dana |title=Muslim leader criticizes arrests; Cleric knew 2 men from S.D. mosque |work=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |date=October 1, 2001 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629064011/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sandiego/access/82925254.html?dids=82925254:82925254&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+01,+2001&author=Joe+Cantlupe+and+Dana+Wilkie&pub=The+San+Diego+Union+-+Tribune&desc=Muslim+leader+criticizes+arrests+%7C+Cleric+knew+2+men+from+S.D.+mosque&pqatl=google }}</ref>

Al-Awlaki decided to pursue his PhD and was accepted at [[George Washington University]] in Washington, D.C., and was soon recruited to be the imam of the nearby suburban [[Dar al-Hijrah]] mosque in 2000.<ref name="Troy63"/> One of the mosque's board members who hired Al-Awlaki stated he was convinced that al-Awlaki had no inclinations or activities to do with terrorism.<ref name=murphy>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/09/12/facing-new-realities-as-islamic-americans/0f2cc52b-1fc5-44ce-a8d2-68629f533302/ |title=Facing New Realities as Islamic Americans |first=Caryle |last=Murphy |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 12, 2004 |access-date=January 15, 2020 |archive-date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116062139/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/09/12/facing-new-realities-as-islamic-americans/0f2cc52b-1fc5-44ce-a8d2-68629f533302/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The new imam, who was described as alluring and charming at this time,<ref name=trib >{{cite news |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/ap-enterprise-tribe-in-yemen-protecting-us-cleric/ |last1=Keath |first1=Lee |last2=Al-Haj |first2=Ahmed |date=January 19, 2010 |title= Tribe in Yemen protecting US cleric |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-date=October 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025121441/http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/ap-enterprise-tribe-in-yemen-protecting-us-cleric/ |url-status=live }}</ref> began to draw young people to Dar Al-Hijrah<ref name="murphy"/> while connecting with the sophisticated Muslim community of Northern Virginia.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdbVDAAAQBAJ |last=Shane |first=Scott |title=Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone |page=98 |publisher=Tim Duggan Books/Random House |isbn=0-8041-4031-6 |access-date=January 12, 2020 |year=2006 |archive-date=March 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320232159/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Objective_Troy/MdbVDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> His proficiency as a public speaker and command of the English language helped him attract followers who did not speak Arabic. "He was the magic bullet", according to the mosque spokesman [[Johari Abdul-Malik]]. "He had everything all in a box."<ref name=Murphy>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14497-2004Sep11.html |title=Facing New Realities as Islamic Americans |first=Caryle |last=Murphy |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 12, 2004 |access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref> "He had an allure. He was charming."<ref name=trib /> Al-Awlaki was considered a moderate during his time at Dar Al-Hijrah, publicly condemned the [[September 11 attacks]] and [[Al-Qaeda]], was even invited to speak at the [[United States Department of Defense]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.5280.com/2018/07/the-long-and-winding-case-of-homaidan-al-turki// | last=Outcalt | first=Chris | date=August 2018 | title=The Long and Winding Case of Homaidan al-Turki | work=[[5280]] | access-date=January 29, 2020 | archive-date=January 30, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130063002/https://www.5280.com/2018/07/the-long-and-winding-case-of-homaidan-al-turki/ | url-status=live }}</ref> and became the first imam to conduct a prayer service for the [[Congressional Muslim Staffer Association]] at the [[U.S. Capitol]].<ref name="Davidson">{{cite news |first=John |last=Davidson |title=Turning a Blind Eye to Terror |date=October 18, 2010 |url=http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39464 |work=Human Events |access-date=October 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020041024/http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39464 |archive-date=October 20, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Winter">{{cite news|last=Winter |first=Jana |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/11/congressional-muslim-prayer-group-terror-ties/ |title=Some Muslims Attending Capitol Hill Prayer Group Have Terror Ties, Probe Reveals |publisher=Fox News|date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=November 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112210422/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/11/congressional-muslim-prayer-group-terror-ties/ |archive-date=November 12, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> He led academic discussions frequented by FBI Director of Counter-Intelligence for the Middle East [[Gordon M. Snow]]. Al-Awlaki also served as the Muslim [[chaplain]] at [[George Washington University]].<ref name=inf /><ref name="911report ch7" /><ref name="wash post" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=412|title=Imam Anwar Al Awlaki&nbsp;– A Leader in Need|publisher=[[Cageprisoners]]|date=November 8, 2006|access-date=June 7, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402074940/http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=412 |archive-date=April 2, 2007}}</ref> Soon after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki was sought in Washington, D.C., by the media to answer questions about Islam, its rituals, and its relation to the attacks. He was interviewed by ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'',<ref name=Perspective>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0927_imampart1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011018011926/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0927_imampart1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 18, 2001 |first1=Brian |last1=Handwerk |first2=Zain |last2=Habboo |title=Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar's Perspective—Part 1 |work=[[National Geographic News]] |date=September 28, 2001 |access-date=October 1, 2011 }}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'', and other media. Al-Awlaki condemned the attacks.<ref name=MoazzamBeggAndAlAwlaki /> According to an [[NPR]] report in 2010, in 2001 al-Awlaki appeared to be a moderate who could "bridge the gap between the United States and the worldwide community of Muslims."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126889383 |first1=Scott |last1=Shane|date=May 18, 2010 |title=Anwar Al-Awlaki: An American Citizen, A CIA Target |work=[[NPR]] |access-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' said at the time that he was "held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West."<ref name="moderate">{{cite news |last=Taranto |first=James |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204138204576602984278140322 |title='Moderate' Meets Maker |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=September 30, 2011 |access-date=November 16, 2012}}</ref> In 2010, [[Fox News]] and the ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'' reported that some months after the 9/11 attacks, a Pentagon employee invited al-Awlaki to a luncheon in the Secretary's Office of General Counsel. The U.S. [[Secretary of the Army]] had suggested that a [[moderate Muslim]] be invited to give a talk.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2010/10/21/anwar-al-awlaki-radical-islamic-cleric-wanted-by-the-cia-ate-lunch-at-pentagon-after-911-report/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929132116/https://www.nydailynews.com/2010/10/21/anwar-al-awlaki-radical-islamic-cleric-wanted-by-the-cia-ate-lunch-at-pentagon-after-911-report/ |url-status=live |title=Anwar Al-Awlaki, radical Islamic cleric wanted by the CIA, ate lunch at Pentagon after 9/11: report |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |date=October 21, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |first=Sean |last=Alfano|archive-date=September 29, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Herridge |first=Catherine |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/exclusive-al-qaeda-leader-dined-at-the-pentagon-just-months-after-9-11 |title=Exclusive: Al Qaeda Leader Dined at the Pentagon Just Months After 9/11 |publisher=[[Fox News]] |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029070207/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/20/al-qaeda-terror-leader-dined-pentagon-months/ |archive-date=October 29, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

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| source = Anwar al-Awlaki on the 9/11 hijackers <ref name=Perspective />
}}

Al-Awlaki appeared on law enforcement's radars when federal investigators discovered two of the alleged 9/11 hijackers had attended the same mosque in San Diego during the same time Al-Awlaki served as imam, as well as Dar Al-Hijrah (along with a third alleged hijacker). When police investigating the 9/11 attacks raided the [[Hamburg]] apartment of [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]], they found the telephone number of al-Awlaki among bin al-Shibh's personal contacts.<ref name=inf /><ref name="wash post" /> Six days after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki [[9/11 Truth movement|suggested]] in writing on the ''[[IslamOnline.net]]'' website that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes, and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default".<ref name="wash post" /> The FBI interviewed al-Awlaki four times in the eight days following the 9/11 attacks.<ref name="foxnews2" /><ref name="nytimes2" /> FBI agents conducted repeated interviews and placed the imam under surveillance.<ref name="Troy113">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdbVDAAAQBAJ |last=Shane |first=Scott |title=Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone |page=113|publisher=Tim Duggan Books/Random House|isbn=0-8041-4031-6|access-date=January 12, 2020|year=2006|archive-date=March 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320232201/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Objective_Troy/MdbVDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Although some law enforcement and public officials have been outspoken about their suspicions of Al-Awlaki's role in the 9/11 plot,<ref name="nytimes2" /><ref name=shop>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,474477,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031106161328/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,474477,00.html|archive-date=November 6, 2003|last1=Shannon |first1=Elaine |last2=Burger |first2=Timothy J. |last3=Calabresi |first3=Massimo |date=August 9, 2003|title=FBI Sets Up Shop in Yemen|magazine=Time |access-date=January 19, 2010}}</ref> no solid evidence emerged linking him to the plot.<ref name="obituary"/> Al-Awlaki resigned from Dar Al-Hijrah in early 2002 due to post-9/11 media attention that distracted the imam from his duties, according to the mosque's outreach director.<ref name=murphy/>

Later in 2002, al-Awlaki posted an essay in Arabic on the ''Islam Today'' website titled "Why Muslims Love Death", lauding the fervor of Palestinian [[suicide bomber]]s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} He expressed a similar opinion in a speech at a London mosque later that year.<ref name=how /><ref name="wash post" /> By July 2002, al-Awlaki was under investigation in the United States for having received money from the subject of a U.S. [[Joint Terrorism Task Force]] investigation. His name was added to the list of terrorism suspects.<ref name=inf /><ref name=how /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/10/opinion/main5600597.shtml |last=Joscelyn|first=Thomas|title=The Federal Bureau of Non-Investigation; Retracing A Trail Of Evidence That The FBI Ignored Prior To Ft. Hood|publisher=[[CBS News]]|date=November 10, 2009|access-date=January 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105220344/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/10/opinion/main5600597.shtml |archive-date=January 5, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Passport fraud issues ===
In June 2002, a Denver federal judge signed an [[arrest warrant]] for al-Awlaki for [[passport fraud]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/29510870/Al-Awlaki-Arrest-Warrant |title=''United States of America v. Anwar Nasser Aulaqi'': Warrant For Arrest |access-date=July 17, 2010 |date=June 17, 2002 |format=PDF |work=United States District Court, District of Colorado |via=Scribd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823223652/http://www.scribd.com/doc/29510870/Al-Awlaki-Arrest-Warrant |archive-date=August 23, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> On October 9, the Denver [[U.S. Attorney's Office]] filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and [[vacate]] the arrest warrant. Prosecutors believed that they lacked sufficient evidence of a crime, according to U.S. Attorney Dave Gaouette, who authorized its withdrawal.<ref name="att">{{Cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/technology/ci_13914150|title=U.S. attorney defends dropping radical cleric's case in 2002|last=Cardona|first=Felisa|date=December 3, 2009|newspaper=[[The Denver Post]]|access-date=December 7, 2009}}</ref> Al-Awlaki had listed Yemen rather than the United States as his place of birth on his 1990 application for a U.S. [[Social Security number]], soon after arriving in the US.<ref name=att /> Al-Awlaki used this documentation to obtain a passport in 1993. He later corrected his place of birth to Las Cruces, New Mexico.<ref name=att /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/US_v_AlAwlaki_arrestwarrant.pdf|title=Warrant for Arrest of Anwar Nasser Aulaqi|date=June 17, 2002|publisher=[[NEFA Foundation]]|access-date=December 15, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108050710/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/US_v_AlAwlaki_arrestwarrant.pdf |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> "The bizarre thing is if you put Yemen down (on the application), it would be harder to get a Social Security number than to say you are a native-born citizen of [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]]", Gaouette said.<ref name=att />

Prosecutors could not charge him in October 2002, when he returned from a trip abroad, because a 10-year [[statute of limitations]] on lying to the [[Social Security Administration]] had expired.<ref name=inf /><ref name=how /><ref name="foxnews3">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/criminal_compliant.pdf |title=Warrant for Arrest |publisher=[[Fox News]] |access-date=November 20, 2012}}</ref> According to a 2012 investigative report by [[Fox News]], the arrest warrant for passport fraud was still in effect on the morning of October 10, 2002, when FBI Agent Wade Ammerman ordered al-Awlaki's release. U.S. Congressman [[Frank Wolf (politician)|Frank Wolf]] (R-VA) and several congressional committees urged FBI Director [[Robert Mueller]] to provide an explanation about the bureau's interactions with al-Awlaki, including why he was released from federal custody when there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest.<ref>{{cite news |first=Catherine |last=Herridge |title=Mueller grilled on FBI's release of al-Awlaki in 2002 |date=March 8, 2012 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/07/mueller-grilled-on-fbis-release-al-awlaki-in-2002/ |publisher=Fox News |access-date=March 14, 2012}}</ref> The motion for rescinding the arrest warrant was approved by a magistrate judge on October 10 and filed on October 11.<ref name=inf />

''[[ABC News]]'' reported in 2009 that the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego disagreed with the decision to cancel the warrant. They were monitoring al-Awlaki and wanted to "look at him under a microscope".<ref name="evidence" /> But U.S. Attorney Gaouette said that no objection had been raised to the rescinding of the warrant during a meeting that included Ray Fournier, the San Diego federal diplomatic security agent whose allegation had set in motion the effort to obtain a warrant.<ref name=att /> Gaouette said that if al-Awlaki had been convicted at the time, he would have faced about six months in custody.<ref name="evidence">{{Cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13910963|title=Evidence blocked arrest of imam with Fort Hood tie|last=Wyatt |first=Kristen |agency=Associated Press|work=The Denver Post|date=December 2, 2009|access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref>

''The New York Times'' suggested later that al-Awlaki had claimed birth in Yemen (his family's place of origin) to qualify for scholarship money granted to foreign citizens.<ref name="nytimes2" /> U.S. Congressman [[Frank R. Wolf]] (R-VA) wrote in May 2010 that by claiming to be foreign-born, al-Awlaki fraudulently obtained more than $20,000 in scholarship funds reserved for foreign students.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/mueller.pdf|title=Congress of the United States|publisher=Fox News |access-date=November 20, 2012}}</ref>

While living in Northern Virginia, al-Awlaki visited [[Ali al-Timimi]], later known as a radical Islamic cleric. Al-Timimi was convicted in 2005 and is now serving a life sentence for leading the [[Virginia Jihad Network]], inciting Muslim followers to fight with the [[Taliban]] against the US.<ref name=how /><ref name="nytimes2" /><ref name="wash post" />

==In the United Kingdom 2002–04==
Al-Awlaki left the United States before the end of 2002, because of a "climate of fear and intimidation" according to Imam [[Johari Abdul-Malik]] of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque.<ref name=":1" />

He lived in the UK for several months, where he gave talks attended by up to 200 people.<ref name="st">{{Cite news|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6974073.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601124328/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6974073.ece |archive-date=June 1, 2010|last=McDougall|first=Dan|author2=Claire Newell|author3=Christina Lamb|author4=Jon Ungoed-Thomas|author5=Chris Gourlay|author6=Kevin Dowling|author7= Dominic Tobin|date=January 3, 2010|title=Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: one boy's journey to jihad |newspaper= [[The Sunday Times]] (UK)|access-date=August 5, 2015 | location=London}}</ref> He urged young Muslim followers: "The important lesson to learn here is never, ever trust a ''[[kuffar]]'' [disbeliever]. Do not trust them! [Their leaders] are plotting to kill this religion. They're plotting night and day."<ref name="nytimes2"/> "He was the main man who translated the ''[[jihad]]'' into English," said a student who attended his lectures in 2003.<ref name="nytimes2"/>

He gave a series of lectures in December 2002 and January 2003 at the London Masjid al-Tawhid mosque, describing the rewards martyrs ([[Shahid]]) receive in paradise ([[Jannah]]).<ref name=inf /><ref name=how/><ref name=rag/><ref name=":1">{{cite magazine|last1=Calabresi |first1=Massimo|first2=Timothy J. |last2=Burger |first3=Elaine |last3=Shannon|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,472887,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628231138/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,472887,00.html |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |title=Why Did The Imam Befriend Hijackers?|date=August 4, 2003 |magazine=Time |access-date=April 16, 2010}}</ref> He began to gain supporters, particularly among young Muslims,<ref name = "wash post"/> and undertook a lecture tour of England and Scotland in 2002 in conjunction with the [[Muslim Association of Britain]]. He also lectured at "ExpoIslamia", an event held by [[Islamic Forum Europe]].<ref name=dtdg/> At the [[East London Mosque]] he told his audience: "A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim... he does not betray him, and he does not hand him over... You don't hand over a Muslim to the enemies."<ref name=dtdg>{{cite news|last=Gardham |first=Duncan |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8113977/Al-Qaeda-leaders-tour-of-Britain-revealed.html |title=Al-Qaeda leader's tour of Britain revealed |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=November 5, 2010 |access-date=November 11, 2010 |location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108025747/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8113977/Al-Qaeda-leaders-tour-of-Britain-revealed.html|archive-date=November 8, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the UK's [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in 2003, [[Louise Ellman]], [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[Liverpool Riverside]], discussed the relationship between al-Awlaki and the [[Muslim Association of Britain]], an alleged [[Muslim Brotherhood]] [[front organization]] founded by Kemal el-Helbawy, a senior member of the [[Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood]].<ref name="Family matters">{{cite web |last=Morgan |first=Adrian |url=http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.4729/pub_detail.asp |title=Exclusive: Who is Anwar al-Awlaki? |publisher=FamilySecurityMatters.org |date=November 10, 2009 |access-date=December 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113051506/http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.4729/pub_detail.asp |archive-date=November 13, 2009 }}</ref>

==Return to Yemen 2004–11==
Al-Awlaki returned to Yemen in early 2004, where he lived in [[Shabwah Governorate]] with his wife and five children.<ref name=how/><ref name="wash post"/> He lectured at [[Iman University]], headed by [[Abdul Majeed al-Zindani]]. The latter has been included on the [[ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee|UN 1267 Committee]]'s list of individuals belonging to or associated with al-Qaeda.<ref name=rag/><ref name="un1267">{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/AQlist.html |title=The List established and maintained by the 1267 Committee with respect to individuals, groups, undertakings and other entities associated with Al-Qaida |publisher=United Nations |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630224805/http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/AQlist.html |access-date=August 4, 2015 |archive-date=June 30, 2011 |quote=QI.A.156.04. Name: 1: ABD-AL-MAJID 2: AZIZ 3: AL-ZINDANI }}</ref> Al-Zindani denied having any influence over al-Awlaki, or that he had been his "direct teacher".<ref name="Zindani">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8453025.stm?CFID=17638234&CFTOKEN=54261596|title=Yemen cleric Zindani warns against 'foreign occupation'|date=January 11, 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=January 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114045616/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8453025.stm|archive-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Some believe{{Who|date=December 2015}} that the school's curriculum deals mostly, if not exclusively, with radical Islamic studies, and promotes radicalism. American convert [[John Walker Lindh]] and other alumni have been associated with terrorist groups.<ref name=rag/><ref>{{cite news|first=Glenn R.|last=Simpson| author-link=Glenn R. Simpson|title=Terror Probe Follows the Money:Investigators Say Bank Records Link a Saudi Investor to al Qaeda|page=A4|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=April 2, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/8894784 |title=Yemeni radical cleric warns of foreign occupation|last=Keath|first=Lee|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Guardian (UK)|date=January 12, 2010|access-date=May 9, 2010 | location=London}}</ref>

On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with four others on charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and participating in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché.<ref name=rad /><ref name=trib /> He was imprisoned in 2006 and 2007.<ref name="nytimes2"/> He was interviewed around September 2007 by two FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. [[John Negroponte]], the U.S. [[Director of National Intelligence]], told Yemeni officials he did not object to al-Awlaki's detention.<ref name="nytimes2"/>

His name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen.<ref name=rec/> After 18 months in a Yemeni prison, al-Awlaki was released on December 12, 2007, following the intercession of his tribe. According to a Yemeni security official, he was released because he had repented.<ref name="nytimes homegrown"/><ref name="nytimes2"/><ref name=rec/> He moved to his family home in Saeed, a hamlet in the Shabwa mountains.<ref name=trib />

[[Moazzam Begg]]'s [[Cageprisoners]], an organization representing former [[Guantanamo detainee]]s, campaigned for al-Awlaki's release when he was in prison in Yemen.<ref name=MoazzamBeggAndAlAwlaki/> Al-Awlaki told Begg in an interview shortly after his release that prior to his incarceration in Yemen, he had condemned the 9/11 attacks.<ref name=MoazzamBeggAndAlAwlaki>{{cite web |url=http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30886 |title=Cageprisoners and the Great Underpants Conspiracy |work=[[Cageprisoners]]| date=January 14, 2010 |first=Moazzam |last=Begg |author-link=Moazzam Begg| access-date=October 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817125353/http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=30886 |archive-date=August 17, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=BeggInterviewText>{{cite web | url=http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=22926 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518002530/http://old.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=22926 |archive-date=May 18, 2011 |title=Moazzam Begg Interviews Imam Anwar Al Awlaki |date=December 31, 2007 |access-date=October 5, 2011 |first=Moazzam |last=Begg |author-link=Moazzam Begg |work=[[Cageprisoners]] }}</ref>

In December 2008, al-Awlaki sent a communique to the Somali terrorist group, [[Harakat al-Shabaab Mujahideen|al-Shabaab]], congratulating them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/awlakishebab1208.pdf |first=Anwar|last=Al-Awlaki|title=Salutations to Al-Shabaab of Somalia|publisher=[[The NEFA Foundation]]|date=December 21, 2008|access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=20em|bgcolor= |align=right |quote= "He's the most dangerous man in Yemen. He's intelligent, sophisticated, Internet-savvy, and very charismatic. He can sell anything to anyone, and right now he's selling ''jihad''".<ref name="any">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB126286293183119465|last=Coker|first=Margaret|title=Yemen Ties Alleged Attacker to al Qaeda and U.S.-Born Cleric|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=January 8, 2010|access-date=February 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120070302/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126286293183119465.html |archive-date= January 20, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>|source=— Yemeni official familiar with counterterrorism operations}}

Al-Awlaki provided al-Qaeda members in Yemen with the protection of his powerful tribe, the Awlakis, against the government. The tribal code required it to protect those who seek refuge and assistance. This imperative has greater force when the person is a member of the tribe or a tribesman's friend. The tribe's motto is "We are the sparks of Hell; whoever interferes with us will be burned."<ref name="coker1">{{cite news |last=Coker |first=Margaret |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704363504575003434023229978 |title=Yemen in Talks for Surrender of Cleric; Government Negotiates With Tribe Sheltering U.S.-Born Imam |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=January 15, 2010|access-date=January 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118075749/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704363504575003434023229978.html |archive-date= January 18, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Al-Awlaki also reportedly helped negotiate deals with leaders of other tribes.<ref name=trib /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/world/middleeast/03yemen.html|title=Yemen's Chaos Aids the Evolution of a Qaeda Cell |last=Erlanger|first=Steven|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 3, 2010|access-date=May 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528052334/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/world/middleeast/03yemen.html|archive-date=May 28, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Sought by Yemeni authorities who were investigating his al-Qaeda ties, al-Awlaki went into hiding in approximately March 2009, according to his father. By December 2009, al-Awlaki was on the Yemeni government's most-wanted list.<ref name="soltis1">{{Cite news|last=Soltis |first=Andy|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/fort_hood_imam_blown_up_yemen_k1ktJYRAKYvJoDJZ9fJ0jI|title=Fort Hood imam blown up: Yemen|newspaper=The New York Post|date=December 25, 2009 |access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref> He was believed to be hiding in Yemen's [[Shabwah Governorate|Shabwa]] or [[Ma'rib Governorate|Mareb]] regions, which are part of the so-called "triangle of evil". The area has attracted al-Qaeda militants, who seek refuge among local tribes unhappy with Yemen's central government.<ref name="wanted">{{cite news|url=http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=165728|last1=Al-Haj|first1=Ahmed|first2=Donna|last2=Abu-Nasr|title=US imam who communicated with Fort Hood suspect wanted in Yemen on terror suspicions|agency=Associated Press|date=November 11, 2009|newspaper=Reading Eagle|access-date=August 4, 2015|archive-date=September 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909234730/http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=165728|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Yemeni sources originally said al-Awlaki might have been killed in a pre-dawn air strike by [[Yemeni Air Force]] [[fighter aircraft|fighter jets]] on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda leaders at a hideout in Rafd in eastern Shabwa, on December 24, 2009. But he survived.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://newsbizarre.com/2009/12/anwar-al-awlaki-dead.html |title=Anwar al-Awlaki Dead: Man Connected to Major Nidal Hasan Eliminated |date=December 24, 2009 |publisher=News Bizarre |access-date=January 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20100327001027/http%3A//newsbizarre%2Ecom/2009/12/anwar%2Dal%2Dawlaki%2Ddead%2Ehtml |archive-date= March 27, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Pravda]]'' reported that the planes, using Saudi and U.S. intelligence, killed at least 30 al-Qaeda members from Yemen and abroad, and that an al-Awlaki house was "raided and demolished".<ref name="AbcNews2009-12-24">{{Cite news |url=http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/24-12-2009/111382-yemen-0/|title=Cleric Linked to Fort Hood Possibly Killed by Yemen Forces |work=Pravda |publisher=ABC News |date=December 24, 2009 |access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref> On December 28 ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that U.S. and Yemeni officials said that al-Awlaki had been present at the meeting.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/27/AR2009122702022.html |last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |title=Al-Qaeda group in Yemen gaining prominence |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 28, 2009 |access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref> Abdul Elah al-Shaya, a Yemeni journalist, said al-Awlaki called him on December 28 to report that he was well and had not attended the al-Qaeda meeting. Al-Shaya said that al-Awlaki was not tied to al-Qaeda.<ref name="IsikoffAlive">{{cite magazine |last=Isikoff |first=Michael |url=http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2009/12/29/exclusive-yemeni-journalist-says-awlaki-alive-well-defiant.aspx |title=Exclusive: Yemeni Journalist Says Awlaki Alive, Well, Defiant |magazine=Newsweek |date=December 29, 2009 |access-date=December 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102070333/http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2009/12/29/exclusive-yemeni-journalist-says-awlaki-alive-well-defiant.aspx |archive-date=January 2, 2010}}</ref>

In March 2010, a tape featuring al-Awlaki was released in which he urged Muslims residing in the United States to attack their country of residence.<ref name="CNNtape"/><ref name="youtube1">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr8TUEfNrBk |title=CNN Report: A Message From Anwar Al-Awlaki |last=Newton |first=Paula |date=March 10, 2010 |via=YouTube |access-date=May 7, 2010|archive-date=July 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719183753/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr8TUEfNrBk}}</ref>

=== Reaching out to the United Kingdom ===
After 2006, al-Awlaki was banned from entering the United Kingdom.{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}} He broadcast lectures to mosques and other venues there via video-link from 2007 to 2009, on at least seven occasions at five locations in Britain.<ref name=dt>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6924653/Detroit-bombers-mentor-continues-to-influence-British-mosques-and-universities.html|last1= Sawer |first1= Patrick|last2=Barrett |first2=David|date=January 2, 2010| title=Detroit bomber's mentor continues to influence British mosques and universities |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=January 2, 2010 | location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105040107/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6924653/Detroit-bombers-mentor-continues-to-influence-British-mosques-and-universities.html |archive-date=January 5, 2010}}</ref> Noor Pro Media Events held a conference at the [[East London Mosque]] on January 1, 2009, showing a videotaped lecture by al-Awlaki; former [[Shadow Home Secretary]] [[Dominic Grieve]] expressed concern over his being featured.<ref name="fury">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3966501/Muslim-groups-linked-to-September-11-hijackers-spark-fury-over-conference.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3966501/Muslim-groups-linked-to-September-11-hijackers-spark-fury-over-conference.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |last=Rayner Gordon|title=Muslim groups 'linked to September 11 hijackers spark fury over conference'|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=December 27, 2008 |access-date=January 24, 2010 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nigerian-in-aircraft-attack-linked-to-london-mosque-1851452.html |last=Sengupta|first=Kim|author2=David Usborne|title=Nigerian in aircraft attack linked to London mosque |work=The Independent |location=London |date=December 28, 2009 |access-date=January 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131174637/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/nigerian-in-aircraft-attack-linked-to-london-mosque-1851452.html|archive-date=January 31, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

He gave video-link talks in England to an Islamic student society at the [[University of Westminster]] in September 2008, an arts center in [[East End of London|East London]] in April 2009 (after the [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets]] council gave its approval), worshippers at the Al Huda Mosque in [[Bradford]], and a dinner of the [[Cageprisoners]] organization in September 2008 at the [[Wandsworth]] Civic Centre in [[South London]].<ref name=dt/><ref name="umar"/> On August 23, 2009, al-Awlaki was banned by local authorities in [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|Kensington and Chelsea]], London, from speaking at [[Kensington Town Hall, London|Kensington Town Hall]] via videolink to a fundraiser dinner for [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo detainees]] promoted by Cageprisoners.<ref name="umar">{{Cite news|last=O'Neill|first=Sean|date=January 4, 2010|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6974702.ece|title=Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had links with London campaign group|newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London|access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/aug/23/islamist-preacher-council-address |last= Doward|first=Jamie |title=Islamist preacher banned from addressing fundraiser |work= The Observer|publisher=Guardian (UK) |date=August 23, 2009 |access-date=May 11, 2010 | location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601102342/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/23/islamist-preacher-council-address|archive-date=June 1, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> His videos, which discuss his Islamist theories, have circulated across the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Doward|first=Jamie|date=December 27, 2009|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/26/flight-253-terrorism-al-qaida|title=Airports raise global safety levels after terror attack on U.S. jet is foiled|publisher=Guardian (UK)|access-date=December 27, 2009 | location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229103233/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/26/flight-253-terrorism-al-qaida|archive-date=December 29, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Spencer|first=Richard|date=December 28, 2009|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6898945/Detroit-terror-attack-Yemen-is-the-true-home-of-Al-Qaeda.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6898945/Detroit-terror-attack-Yemen-is-the-true-home-of-Al-Qaeda.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Detroit terror attack: Yemen is the true home of Al-Qaeda|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=May 11, 2010 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Spillius|first=Alex|date=December 28, 2009|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6895973/Detroit-terror-attack-Al-Qaeda-warned-of-bomb-attack.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6895973/Detroit-terror-attack-Al-Qaeda-warned-of-bomb-attack.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Al-Qaeda warned of imminent bomb attack|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=May 11, 2010 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Until February 2010, hundreds of audio tapes of his sermons were available at the Tower Hamlets public libraries.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7333537/Radicals-with-hands-on-the-levers-of-power-the-takeover-of-Tower-Hamlets.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100303081931/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7333537/Radicals-with-hands-on-the-levers-of-power-the-takeover-of-Tower-Hamlets.html |archive-date=March 3, 2010 |last=Gilligan, Andrew |title=Radicals with hands on the levers of power: the takeover of Tower Hamlets |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=February 28, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 | location=London}}</ref> In 2009, the London-based [[Islam Channel]] carried advertisements for his DVDs and at least two of his video conference lectures.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jamie |last=Doward |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/10/islam-channel-radical-cleric-awlaki |title=UK Muslim TV channel linked to al-Qaida cleric al-Awlaki|newspaper=The Guardian |date= January 10, 2010|access-date=August 15, 2015 |location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013122619/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/10/islam-channel-radical-cleric-awlaki|archive-date=October 13, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other connections===
{{Main|People linked to Anwar al-Awlaki}}

[[File:Allen 2005.jpg|thumb|upright|left|In 2008, [[Charles E. Allen]], former [[DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis|U.S. Under-Secretary for Homeland Security]], publicly warned that al-Awlaki allegedly was targeting Muslims with online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks.]]

FBI agents identified al-Awlaki as a known, important "senior recruiter for al Qaeda", and a spiritual motivator.<ref name=rec/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/al-qaeda-recruiter-focus-fort-hood-killings-investigation/story?id=9045492 |last=Chucmach|first=Megan|author2=Brian Ross|title=Al Qaeda Recruiter New Focus in Fort Hood Killings Investigation|work=ABC News|date=November 10, 2009|access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref> His name came up in a dozen terrorism plots in the US, UK, and Canada. The cases included suicide bombers in the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|2005 London bombings]], radical Islamic terrorists in the [[2006 Toronto terrorism case]], radical Islamic terrorists in the [[2007 Fort Dix attack plot]], the ''jihadist'' killer in the 2009 [[Little Rock military recruiting office shooting]], and the 2010 [[Times Square bomber]]. In each case the suspects were devoted to al-Awlaki's message, which they listened to online and on CDs.<ref name=how/><ref name="nytimes homegrown"/><ref>{{Cite news|last=Sherwell |first=Philip|author2=Duncan Gardham |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6630555/Fort-Hood-shooting-radical-Islamic-preacher-also-inspired-July-7-bombers.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6630555/Fort-Hood-shooting-radical-Islamic-preacher-also-inspired-July-7-bombers.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Fort Hood shooting: radical Islamic preacher also inspired July 7 bombers|date=November 23, 2009|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=May 11, 2010 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Al-Awlaki's recorded lectures were heard by Islamist fundamentalists in at least six terror cells in the UK through 2009.<ref name= st/> [[Michael Finton]] (Talib Islam), who attempted in September 2009 to bomb the Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman [[Aaron Schock]] in Springfield, Illinois, admired al-Awlaki and quoted him on his [[Myspace]] page.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gruen |first= Madeleine |url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefa_fintontargetamerica.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301022613/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefa_fintontargetamerica.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2012 |title=Attempt to Attack the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield, Illinois |work=Report #23 in the 'Target: America' Series |page=4 |publisher=The [[NEFA Foundation]] |date = December 2009|access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref> In addition to his website, al-Awlaki had a Facebook fan page<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/62/db/1a0e1a134f7aa52481321cdfe7a1.jpeg |title=Facebook page |format=Screen capture|author=Anwar al-Awlaki |access-date=November 21, 2009 |archive-date=February 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100222062341/http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/62/db/1a0e1a134f7aa52481321cdfe7a1.jpeg |url-status=dead}}</ref> with "fans" in the US, many of whom were high school students.<ref name=nef /> Al-Awlaki also set up a website and [[blog]] on which he shared his views.<ref name=dal>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-shooterimam_29pro.ART.State.Edition2.4b91281.html |last=Egerton |first=Brooks |date=November 29, 2009|title= Imam's e-mails to Fort Hood suspect Hasan tame compared to online rhetoric|newspaper= [[The Dallas Morning News]] |access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref>

Al-Awlaki influenced several other extremists to join terrorist organizations overseas and to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries. [[Mohamed Alessa]] and [[Carlos Almonte]], two American citizens from New Jersey who attempted to travel to Somalia in June 2010 to join the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al Shabaab]], allegedly watched several al-Awlaki videos and sermons in which he warned of future attacks against Americans in the United States and abroad.<ref>{{cite web |work=Anti-Defamation League |url=https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/anwar-al-awlaki-2013-6-4-v1.pdf |title=Profile: Anwar al-Awlaki |date=November 2011 |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref> [[Zachary Chesser]], an American citizen who was arrested for attempting to provide material support to Al Shabaab, told federal authorities that he watched online videos featuring al-Awlaki and that he exchanged several e-mails with al-Awlaki.<ref>{{cite web |work=Anti-Defamation League |url=https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/Abu-Talhah-Al-Amrikee-An-Extensive-Online-Footprint-2013-1-11-v1.pdf |title=Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee: An Extensive Online Footprint |date=17 May 2011 |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref><ref name="csmonitor2">{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0722/Zachary-Chesser-and-Paul-Rockwood-latest-US-citizens-linked-to-al-Awlaki |title=Zachary Chesser and Paul Rockwood: latest US citizens linked to al-Awlaki |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=July 22, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026120448/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0722/Zachary-Chesser-and-Paul-Rockwood-latest-US-citizens-linked-to-al-Awlaki|archive-date=October 26, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2010, Paul Rockwood was sentenced to eight years in prison for creating a list of 15 potential targets in the US, people he felt had desecrated Islam.<ref name="csmonitor2"/> Rockwood was a devoted follower of al-Awlaki, and had studied his works ''Constants on the Path to Jihad'' and ''44 Ways to Jihad''.<ref name="csmonitor2"/>

In October 2008, [[Charles E. Allen|Charles Allen]], U.S. [[DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis|Under-Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis]], warned that al-Awlaki "targets U.S. Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen."<ref name="fury"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/sp_1225377634961.shtm |title=Keynote Address at GEOINT Conference |last=Allen |first=Charles E. |publisher=[[Department of Homeland Security]] |date=October 28, 2008 |access-date=November 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123025109/https://www.dhs.gov/xnews/speeches/sp_1225377634961.shtm |archive-date=November 23, 2009 }}</ref> Responding to Allen, al-Awlaki wrote on his website in December 2008: "I would challenge him to come up with just one such lecture where I encourage 'terrorist attacks'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/NEFAalwaki1208.pdf |title=Anwar al-Awlaki:'Lies of the Telegraph' |last=Al-Awlaki |first=Anwar |publisher=[[The NEFA Foundation]] |date=December 27, 2008 |access-date=January 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301022850/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/NEFAalwaki1208.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2012 }}</ref>

====Fort Hood shooter====
[[File:Major Nidal Hassan.jpg|thumb|Convicted Fort Hood shooter [[Nidal Hasan]]]]
{{Main|2009 Fort Hood shooting}}
[[Nidal Hasan]] visited al-Awlaki's mosque for his mother's funeral, at which al-Awlaki presided in 2002. Hasan usually attended a mosque in Maryland closer to where he lived while working at the [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center|Walter Reed Medical Center]] (2003–09). He was investigated by the FBI after intelligence agencies intercepted at least 18 e-mails between him and al-Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009.<ref name= lev>{{cite news|url=http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=169641|last1=Hess|first1=Pamela|first2=Anne|last2=Gearan|date=November 21, 2009|title=Levin: More e-mails from Ft. Hood suspect possible|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Reading Eagle|access-date=August 4, 2015|archive-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910195926/http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=169641|url-status=dead}}</ref> Even before the contents of the e-mails were revealed, terrorism expert [[Jarret Brachman]] said that Hasan's contacts with al-Awlaki should have raised "huge [[red flag (signal)|red flags]]", because of his influence on radical English-speaking ''jihadis''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120287913|last= Brachman|first=Jarret|format=Interview: Host Michelle Norris|work=All Things Considered|title=Expert Discusses Ties Between Hasan, Radical Imam|publisher= [[NPR]]|date=November 10, 2009|access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref> Charles Allen, no longer in government, noted that there was no work-related reason for Hasan to be in touch with al-Awlaki.<ref name=dal/> Former [[CIA]] officer [[Bruce Riedel]] opined: "E-mailing a known al-Qaeda sympathizer should have set off alarm bells. Even if he was exchanging recipes, the bureau should have put out an alert."<ref name=dal/> A DC-based Joint Terrorism Task Force operating under the FBI was notified of the e-mails and reviewed the information. Army employees were informed of the e-mails, but they didn't perceive any terrorist threat in Hasan's questions. Instead, they viewed them as general questions about spiritual guidance with regard to conflicts between Islam and military service and judged them to be consistent with legitimate mental health research about Muslims in the armed services.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.themonitor.com/articles/span-32450-hasan-class.html|date=November 10, 2009|title=FBI reassessing past look at Fort Hood suspect|agency=Associated Press|publisher=The Monitor (McAllen, TX)|access-date=May 11, 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912002818/http://www.themonitor.com/articles/span-32450-hasan-class.html|archive-date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> The assessment was that there was not sufficient information for a larger investigation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/11/national/main5612152.shtml|title=Hasan's Ties Spark Government Blame Game|publisher=CBS News|agency=Associated Press|date=November 11, 2009 |access-date=January 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105161340/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/11/national/main5612152.shtml|archive-date=January 5, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> In one of the e-mails, Hasan wrote al-Awlaki: "I can't wait to join you [in the afterlife]". "It sounds like [[Code word (communication)|code word]]s," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the [[Center for Advanced Defense Studies]]. "That he's actually either offering himself up, or that he's already crossed that line in his own mind."<ref name="cant wait">{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Brian |first2=Rhonda |last2=Schwartz |date=November 19, 2009 |title=Major Hasan's E-Mail: 'I Can't Wait to Join You' in Afterlife |work=The Blotter from Brian Ross |publisher=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/major-hasans-mail-wait-join-afterlife/story?id=9130339 |access-date=April 9, 2010}}</ref>

Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Hider Shaea interviewed al-Awlaki in November 2009.<ref name="confidant">{{cite news|last=Raghavan|first=Sudarsan|date=November 16, 2009|title=Cleric says he was confidant to Hasan: In Yemen, al-Aulaqi tells of e-mail exchanges, says he did not instigate rampage|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111503160.html|access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref> Al-Awlaki acknowledged his correspondence with Hasan. He said he "neither ordered nor pressured ... Hasan to harm Americans." Al-Awlaki said Hasan first e-mailed him December 17, 2008, introducing himself by writing: "Do you remember me? I used to pray with you at the Virginia mosque." Hasan said he had become a devout Muslim around the time al-Awlaki was preaching at [[Dar al-Hijrah]], in 2001 and 2002, and al-Awlaki said 'Maybe Nidal was affected by one of my lectures.'" He added: "It was clear from his e-mails that Nidal trusted me. Nidal told me: 'I speak with you about issues that I never speak with anyone else.'" Al-Awlaki said Hasan arrived at his own conclusions regarding the acceptability of violence in Islam and said he was not the one to initiate this. Shaea said, "Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa."<ref name="confidant"/>

Asked whether Hasan mentioned Fort Hood as a target in his e-mails, Shaea declined to comment. Al-Awlaki said the shooting was acceptable in Islam, however, because it was a form of ''jihad'', as the West began the hostilities with the Muslims.<ref name="Yemeni reporter">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/16/imam-al-awlaki-says-he-di_n_358748.html |url-status=live |title=Imam Al Awlaki Says He Did Not Pressure Accused Fort Hood Gunman Nidal Hasan |agency=[[Associated Press]] |location=Washington |work=HuffPost |date=November 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904021846/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/16/imam-al-awlaki-says-he-di_n_358748.html |access-date=May 12, 2010|archive-date=September 4, 2011 }}</ref> Al-Awlaki said he "blessed the act because it was against a military target. And the soldiers who were killed were ... those who were trained and prepared to go to Iraq and Afghanistan".<ref name="confidant"/><ref name="abcnews.go.com">{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fort-hood-shooter-contact-al-qaeda-terrorists-officials/story?id=9030873 |last1=Esposito |first1=Richard |first2=Matthew |last2=Cole |first3=Brian |last3=Ross |title=Officials: U.S. Army Told of Hasan's Contacts with al Qaeda; Army Major in Fort Hood Massacre Used 'Electronic Means' to Connect with Terrorists |work=The Blotter from Brian Ross |publisher=[[ABC News]] |date=November 9, 2009 |access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref>

Al-Awlaki's e-mail conversations with Hasan were not released, and he was not placed on the FBI Most Wanted list, indicted for treason, or officially named as a co-conspirator with Hasan. The U.S. government was reluctant to classify the Fort Hood shooting as a terrorist incident, or identify any motive. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reported in January 2010 that al-Awlaki had not "played a direct role" in any of the attacks, and noted he had never been charged with a crime in the US.<ref name="coker1"/>

One of his fellow officers at Fort Hood said Hasan was enthusiastic about al-Awlaki.<ref>{{cite news |url-status=dead |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/11/11/2009-11-11_who_is_anwar_alawlaki_imam_contacted_by_fort_hood_gunman_nidal_malik_hasan_has_l.html |last=Sacks |first=Ethan |title=Who is Anwar al-Awlaki? Imam contacted by Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan has long radical past |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York |date= November 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114090524/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/11/11/2009-11-11_who_is_anwar_alawlaki_imam_contacted_by_fort_hood_gunman_nidal_malik_hasan_has_l.html |access-date=January 24, 2010|archive-date=November 14, 2009 }}</ref> Some investigators believe al-Awlaki's teachings may have been instrumental in Hasan's decision to stage the attack.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Julian E. |url=https://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/15/nation/la-na-fort-hood-pentagon16-2010jan16 |title=Gates makes recommendations in Ft. Hood shooting case |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 15, 2010 |access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref> On his now-disabled website, al-Awlaki praised Hasan's actions, describing him as a hero.<ref name="nytimes homegrown"/>

====Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber"====
{{Main|Northwest Airlines Flight 253}}
[[File:Umar Mutallab crop and contrast.png|thumb|left|[[Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab]], the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 suspected bomber]]

According to a number of sources, Al-Awlaki and [[Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab]], the convicted al-Qaeda attempted bomber of [[Northwest Airlines Flight 253]] on December 25, 2009, had contacts. In January 2010, CNN reported that U.S. "security sources" said that there is concrete evidence that al-Awlaki was Abdulmutallab's recruiter and one of his trainers, and met with him prior to the attack.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/07/wednesdays-intriguing-people-3/ |title=Wednesday's intriguing people |last=Kernis |first=Jay |work=CNN |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411023820/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/07/wednesdays-intriguing-people-3/ |archive-date=April 11, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2010, al-Awlaki admitted in an interview published in ''[[Al Jazeera Arabic|al-Jazeera]]'' that he taught and corresponded with Abdulmutallab, but denied having ordered the attack.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9744188 |title=US cleric: Accused plane bomber was my student |last1=Al-Haj |first1=Ahmed |first2=Sarah |last2=El Deeb |location=San'a, Yemen|date=February 4, 2010 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=ABC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/05/AR2010020504028.html |title=Yemeni American cleric Aulaqi confirms contact with Nigerian suspect |first=Karen |last=DeYoung |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 6, 2010 |access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=9750138|title=Law official: Airline bomb suspect flips on cleric |last1=Apuzzo |first1=Matt |author-link1=Matt Apuzzo |last2=Sullivan |first2=Eileen |author-link2=Eileen Sullivan |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=February 4, 2010|work=ABC News |access-date=May 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628195504/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=9750138 |archive-date=June 28, 2011}}</ref>

Representative [[Pete Hoekstra]], the senior [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] on the [[House Intelligence Committee]], said officials in the Obama administration and officials with access to law enforcement information told him the suspect "may have had contact [with al-Awlaki]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6886600/Detroit-British-student-in-al-Qaeda-airline-bomb-attempt.html|title=Detroit: British student in al-Qaeda airline bomb attempt|last=Allen|first=Nick|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph |date=December 25, 2009|access-date=August 5, 2015 | location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228104551/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6886600/Detroit-British-student-in-al-Qaeda-airline-bomb-attempt.html|archive-date=December 28, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Preddy|first=Melissa|url=https://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-world/nigerian-with-al-qaeda-ties-tries-to-blow-up-us-jet-20091226-lfo6.html|title=Nigerian with 'Al Qaeda ties' tries to blow up US jet|agency=Agence France-Presse (AFP) |work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=December 26, 2009|access-date=August 5, 2015}}</ref>

''[[The Sunday Times]]'' established that Abdulmutallab first met al-Awlaki in 2005 in Yemen, while he was studying [[Arabic]].<ref name= mi>{{Cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6973954.ece|last=Leppard |first=David|author2=Dan McDougall |date=January 3, 2010|title=MI5 knew of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's UK extremist links|newspaper= [[The Sunday Times]] (UK)|access-date=May 11, 2010 | location=London}}</ref> During that time the suspect attended lectures by al-Awlaki.<ref name= st/>

[[NPR]] reported that according to unnamed U.S. intelligence officials he attended a sermon by al-Awlaki at the [[Finsbury Park Mosque]].<ref name="atc"/><ref name="spectator1">{{cite magazine |first=James |last=Forsyth |url=http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2010/07/mahmood-seeks-answers/ |title=Mahmood seeks answers |magazine=The Spectator |date=July 19, 2010 |access-date=August 15, 2015 |archive-date=September 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916121516/http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2010/07/mahmood-seeks-answers/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Khalid Mahmood (politician, born 1961)|Khalid Mahmood]], the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP for [[Birmingham Perry Barr (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Perry Barr]], a former trustee of the mosque, expressed "grave misgivings" with regard to its stewardship.<ref name="spectator1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2010/08/01/birmingham-mp-calls-for-investigation-into-claims-mosque-was-used-by-extremists-66331-26970037/ |first=Jonathan |last=Walker |title=Birmingham MP calls for investigation into claims mosque was used by extremists |newspaper=Sunday Mercury |date=August 1, 2010 |access-date=October 8, 2010}}</ref> A spokesperson of the mosque stated that al-Awlaki had never spoken there or had even to his knowledge entered the building.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2010/7/22/finsbury-park-mosque-calls-on-khalid-mahmood-to-retract-slan.html |title=Khalid Mahmood's false claims increase risk of Islamophobic attacks on North London Central Mosque |publisher=North London Central Mosque |access-date=January 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724113436/http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2010/7/22/finsbury-park-mosque-calls-on-khalid-mahmood-to-retract-slan.html |archive-date=July 24, 2010 }}</ref>

Abdulmutallab was also reported by ''[[CBS News]]'', ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', and ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' to have attended a talk by al-Awlaki at the [[East London Mosque]], which al-Awlaki may have attended by video teleconference.<ref name=dt/><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/29/world/main6034880.shtml |title=Did Abdulmutallab Meet Radical Cleric?|publisher=CBS News |date=December 29, 2009|access-date=May 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412205325/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/29/world/main6034880.shtml|archive-date=April 12, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gilligan |first=Andrew |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7908262/Hizb-ut-Tahrir-is-not-a-gateway-to-terrorism-claims-Whitehall-report.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727044823/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7908262/Hizb-ut-Tahrir-is-not-a-gateway-to-terrorism-claims-Whitehall-report.html |archive-date=July 27, 2010 |title=Hizb ut Tahrir is not a gateway to terrorism, claims Whitehall report |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=July 25, 2010 |access-date=October 8, 2010 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gilligan |first=Andrew |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7929660/Our-dangerous-dalliance-with-radical-Islam.html |title=Our dangerous dalliance with radical Islam |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=August 6, 2010 |access-date=October 8, 2010 | location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021233401/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7929660/Our-dangerous-dalliance-with-radical-Islam.html|archive-date=October 21, 2010 }}</ref> ''The Sunday Telegraph'' later removed the report from its website following a complaint by the East London Mosque, which stated that "Anwar Al Awlaki did not deliver any talks at the ELM between 2005 and 2008, which is when the newspaper had falsely alleged that Abdullmutallab had attended such talks".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.eastlondonmosque.org.uk/news/251|title=Sunday Telegraph removes article|publisher=East London Mosque|access-date=July 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822005356/http://www.eastlondonmosque.org.uk/news/251|archive-date=August 22, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Investigators who searched flats connected to Abdulmutallab in London said that he was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, as al-Awlaki's blog and website had repeatedly been visited from those locations.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Herridge|first=Catherine|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/28/investigators-recover-sim-cards-searches-homes-tied-mutallab/|title=Investigators Recover SIM Cards During Searches of Homes Tied to Abdulmutallab|publisher=Fox News|date=December 28, 2009|access-date=August 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231020317/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/28/investigators-recover-sim-cards-searches-homes-tied-mutallab/|archive-date=December 31, 2009}}</ref>

According to federal sources, Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki repeatedly communicated with one another in the year prior to the attack.<ref>{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Carrie|author2=Karen DeYoung |author3=Anne E. Kornblut |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/29/AR2009122901433.html|title=Obama vows to repair intelligence gaps behind Detroit airplane incident|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 30, 2009|access-date=December 30, 2009}}</ref> "Voice-to-voice communication" between the two was intercepted during the fall of 2009, and one government source said al-Awlaki "was in some way involved in facilitating [Abdulmutallab]'s transportation or trip through Yemen. It could be training, a host of things."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/30/AR2009123003229.html?hpid=topnews |last=DeYoung, Karen|title=Obama to get report on intelligence failures in Abdulmutallab case |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 31, 2009 |access-date=January 24, 2010}}</ref> NPR reported that intelligence officials suspected al-Awlaki may have told Abdulmutallab to go to Yemen for al-Qaeda training.<ref name="atc"/>

Abdulmutallab told the FBI that al-Awlaki was one of his al-Qaeda trainers in Yemen. Others reported that Abdulmutallab met with al-Awlaki in the weeks leading up to the attack.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6973007.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629111749/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6973007.ece |archive-date=June 29, 2011|title=Double life of 'gifted and polite' terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab|first=James|last= Hider|newspaper=The Times |date=January 1, 2010|access-date=January 1, 2010 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6969076.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629111806/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6969076.ece |archive-date=June 29, 2011|title=Our false sense of security should end here: al-Qaeda never went away|series=Analysis| last=O'Neill|first=Sean|work=The Times |date=December 28, 2009|access-date=December 28, 2009 | location=London}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that according to a U.S. intelligence official, intercepts and other information point to connections between the two:

<blockquote>Some of the information ... comes from Abdulmutallab, who ... said that he met with al-Awlaki and senior al-Qaeda members during an extended trip to Yemen this year and that the cleric was involved in some elements of planning or preparing the attack and in providing religious justification for it. Other intelligence linking the two became apparent after the attempted bombing, including communications intercepted by the [[National Security Agency]] indicating that the cleric was meeting with "a [[Nigerian]]" in preparation for some kind of operation.<ref name="US born">{{cite news|last=Meyer|first=Josh|date=December 31, 2009|title=U.S.-born cleric linked to airline bombing plot|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-terror-intel31-2009dec31,0,4146208,full.story|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907145547/http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-terror-intel31-2009dec31,0,4146208,full.story|archive-date=September 7, 2012|access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref></blockquote>

Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs, Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, said Yemeni investigators believe that Abdulmutallab traveled to Shabwa in October 2009. Investigators believe he obtained his explosives and received training there. He met there with al-Qaeda members in a house built by al-Awlaki.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tampabay.com/incoming/yemen-links-accused-jet-bomber-radical-cleric/1062446 |last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |title=Yemen links accused jet bomber, radical cleric |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=January 1, 2010|access-date=August 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106092515/http://www.tampabay.com/incoming/yemen-links-accused-jet-bomber-radical-cleric/1062446 |archive-date=January 6, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A top Yemen government official said the two met with each other.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/27/yemen.al.qaeda.video/ |title=American-born cleric appears in al Qaeda video |work=CNN |date=April 27, 2010 |access-date=May 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503150534/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/27/yemen.al.qaeda.video/ |archive-date=May 3, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 2010, al-Awlaki acknowledged that he met and spoke with Abdulmutallab in Yemen in the fall of 2009. In an interview, al-Awlaki said: "Umar Farouk is one of my students; I had communications with him. And I support what he did." He also said: "I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Worth |first=Robert F. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/world/middleeast/01yemen.html |title=Cleric in Yemen Admits Meeting Airliner Plot Suspect, Journalist Says|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2010 | date=February 1, 2010}}</ref> ''[[Fox News]]'' reported in early February 2010 that Abdulmutallab told federal investigators that al-Awlaki directed him to carry out the bombing.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2010/02/08/christmas-bomb-suspect-says-radical-imam-told-him-to-bomb-jet-source-says/|title=Christmas Bomb Suspect Says Radical Imam Told Him to Bomb Jet, Source Says|date=February 4, 2010|publisher=Fox News|access-date=July 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913194501/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2010/02/08/christmas-bomb-suspect-says-radical-imam-told-him-to-bomb-jet-source-says/|archive-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref>

In June 2010 [[Michael Leiter]], the Director of the U.S. [[National Counterterrorism Center]] (NCTC), said al-Awlaki had a "direct operational role" in the plot.<ref>{{cite news |last=Glionna |first=John M. |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/nation_world/20100701_In_the_Nation.html |url-status=live |title=Official defends targeting Awlaki |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=July 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706160126/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/nation_world/20100701_In_the_Nation.html |access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-date=July 6, 2019 }}</ref>

====Sharif Mobley====
{{Main|Sharif Mobley}}

Sharif Mobley had acknowledged contact with Anwar al-Awlaki. The Mobley family claims the contact was for spiritual guidance in further studies of Islam.

The Mobley family went to Yemen and resided there for several years. They decided to return to the United States and went to the U.S. Embassy to update the family travel documents. While waiting for their travel documents, Sharif Mobley was kidnapped by Yemen Security Services and shot on January 26, 2010. He was then held in Yemen's Central Prison. Mobley disappeared from the Central Prison on February 27, 2014.<ref name="SMobley Missing">{{cite news |last1=Ackerman |first1=Spencer |title=American citizen Sharif Mobley is missing in Yemen – lawyers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/american-citizen-sharif-mobley-missing-yemen |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 10, 2014 |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref> His current location is known to the U.S. Embassy in Yemen (currently closed 2015) but is withheld from his family and legal advisers based on U.S. State Department Regulations on "U.S. Citizens Missing Abroad".<ref name="Saudi airstrikes prison complex" />

All charges related to "terrorism/terrorist activity" were dropped by the Yemen government. There are no charges relating to allegations of "killing a guard during an escape attempt from the hospital" and there are no other legal proceedings against him in Yemen.<ref name="Saudi airstrikes prison complex">{{cite news |last1=Ackerman |first1=Spencer |title=American prisoner's fate unknown after deadly airstrikes on Yemen jail |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/27/sharif-mobley-american-yemen-saudi-air-strikes-prison |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=May 27, 2015 |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref>

====Times Square bomber====
[[Faisal Shahzad]], convicted of the [[2010 Times Square car bombing attempt]], told interrogators that he was a "fan and follower" of al-Awlaki, and his writings were one of the inspirations for the attack.<ref name="autogenerated3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704370704575228150116907566 |title=Suspect Cites Radical Imam's Writings |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |first1=Yochi J. |last1=Dreazen |author-link1=Yochi Dreazen |first2=Evan |last2=Perez |date=May 6, 2010 |access-date=May 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509120618/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704370704575228150116907566.html |archive-date=May 9, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="herridge1">{{Cite news|last=Herridge |first=Catherine |url=http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/06/times-square-bomb-suspect-fan-prominent-radical-cleric-sources-say/ |title=Times Square Bomb Suspect a 'Fan' of Prominent Radical Cleric, Sources Say |publisher=[[Fox News]] |date= May 6, 2010|access-date=May 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507101825/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/06/times-square-bomb-suspect-fan-prominent-radical-cleric-sources-say/|archive-date=May 7, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> On May 6, 2010 ''ABC News'' reported that unknown sources told them Shahzad made contact with al-Awlaki over the internet, a claim that could not be independently verified.<ref name="myfoxdetroit1">{{Cite news|url=http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/news/times-square-suspect-contacted-radical-cleric-dpgonc-km-20100506_7411371 |title=Times Square Suspect Contacted Radical Cleric |agency=NewsCore |work=Fox News |date=May 1, 2010 |access-date=May 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512174654/http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/news/times-square-suspect-contacted-radical-cleric-dpgonc-km-20100506_7411371 |archive-date=May 12, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="abcnews1">{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/faisal-shahzad-contact-awlaki-taliban-mumbai-massacre-mastermind/story?id=10575061|title=Faisal Shahzad Had Contact With Anwar Awlaki, Taliban, and Mumbai Massacre Mastermind, Officials Say|last1=Esposito|first1=Richard|first2=Chris |last2=Vlasto |first3=Chris |last3=Cuomo|work=The Blotter from Brian Ross|publisher=ABC News|date=May 6, 2010|access-date=May 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509013338/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/faisal-shahzad-contact-awlaki-taliban-mumbai-massacre-mastermind/story?id=10575061|archive-date=May 9, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Stabbing of British former minister Stephen Timms====
[[Roshonara Choudhry]], who stabbed former British Cabinet Minister [[Stephen Timms]] in May 2010, and was found guilty of his attempted murder in November 2010, claimed to have become radicalized by listening to online sermons of al-Awlaki.<ref name=Rayner>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8105516/Stephen-Timms-stabbing-how-internet-sermons-turned-quiet-student-into-fanatic.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8105516/Stephen-Timms-stabbing-how-internet-sermons-turned-quiet-student-into-fanatic.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |first1=Gordon |last1=Rayner |first2=John |last2=Bingham |title=Stephen Timms stabbing: how internet sermons turned quiet student into fanatic |date=November 2, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=Dodd>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/nov/02/profile-roshonara-choudhry-stephen-timms |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Vikram |last=Dodd |title=Profile: Roshonara Choudhry |date=November 2, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-11682732 |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=BBC News |title=Woman jailed for life for attack on MP Stephen Timms |date=November 3, 2010}}</ref>

====''Seattle Weekly'' cartoonist death threat====
In 2010, after [[Everybody Draw Mohammed Day]], cartoonist Molly Norris at ''[[Seattle Weekly]]'' had to stop publishing, and at the suggestion of the FBI changed her name, moved, and went into hiding due to a ''[[fatwā]]'' issued by al-Awlaki calling for her death.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-09-15/news/on-the-advice-of-the-fbi-cartoonist-molly-norris-disappears-from-view/ |last=Fefer |first=Mark |title=On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris Disappears From View |newspaper=Seattle Weekly |date=September 15, 2010 |access-date=September 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917182909/http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-09-15/news/on-the-advice-of-the-fbi-cartoonist-molly-norris-disappears-from-view/ |archive-date=September 17, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/07/molly_norris_draw_mohammed_day_1.php |last=Hannan |first=Caleb |title=Molly Norris, "Draw Mohammed Day" Cartoonist, Placed On Execution Hitlist By Islamic Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki |newspaper=Seattle Weekly |date=July 12, 2010 |access-date=September 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008013157/http://blogs.seattleweekly.com//dailyweekly//2010//07//molly_norris_draw_mohammed_day_1.php |archive-date=October 8, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/us/17cartoon.html |work=The New York Times |first=Brian |last=Stelter |title='Mohammed Day' Cartoonist in Hiding After Death Threats |date=September 16, 2010}}</ref> In the June 2010 issue of ''Inspire'', an English-language al-Qaeda magazine, al-Awlaki cursed her and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of [[Muhammad]]. "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved", he wrote.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/no-laughing-matter-fbi-warns-cartoonist-proposed-draw-muhammed-day-terror-h-article-1.468166 |author1=James Gordon Meek |author2=Katie Nelson |title=No Laughing Matter; FBI warns cartoonist who proposed 'Everybody Draw Muhammed Day' she's on terror hit list |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York|date=July 12, 2010 |access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref> [[Daniel Pipes]] observed in an article entitled "Dueling Fatwas", "Awlaki stands at an unprecedented crossroads of death declarations, with his targeting Norris even as the U.S. government targets him."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://thebulletin.us/articles/2010/10/10/commentary/op-eds/doc4cb222acb1268418479836.txt |url-status=dead |first=Daniel |last=Pipes |title=Dueling Fatwas |newspaper=The Philadelphia Bulletin |date=October 10, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219001538/http://thebulletin.us/articles/2010/10/10/commentary/op-eds/doc4cb222acb1268418479836.txt |archive-date=February 19, 2016 }}</ref>

====Cargo planes bomb plot====
''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', and ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' reported that U.S. and British counter-terrorism officials believed that al-Awlaki was behind the [[2010 cargo plane bomb plot|cargo plane PETN bombs that were sent from Yemen to Chicago]] in October 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8099345/Yemen-cargo-bomb-plot-may-have-been-targeted-at-Britain.html|author1=Sean Rayment |author2=Patrick Hennessy |author3=David Barrett |title=Yemen cargo bomb plot may have been targeted at Britain |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=October 30, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2010 |location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104014436/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8099345/Yemen-cargo-bomb-plot-may-have-been-targeted-at-Britain.html |archive-date=November 4, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="guardian1">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/29/yemen-bomb-scare-mastermind-london |title=Yemen bomb scare 'mastermind' lived in London |work=The Guardian |access-date=October 1, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/world/middleeast/30yemen.html |work=The New York Times |first=Robert F. |last=Worth |title=Yemen Emerges as Base for Al Qaeda Attacks |date=October 29, 2010}}</ref> When [[United States Department of Homeland Security|U.S. Homeland Security]] official [[John O. Brennan|John Brennan]] was asked about al-Awlaki's suspected involvement in the plot, he said: "Anybody associated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a subject of concern."<ref name="guardian1"/> [[U.S. Ambassador to Yemen]] [[Gerald Feierstein]] said "al-Awlaki was behind the two bombs."{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==Final years==
Al-Awlaki's father, tribe, and supporters denied his alleged associations with Al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism.<ref name=inf /><ref name="washingtonpost1"/><ref name="I'm Alive">{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/awlaki-alive/story?id=9455144 |title=Awlaki: I'm Alive Says Yemen Radical Anwar Awlaki Despite U.S. Attack |last1=Atta|first1=Nasser|first2=Brian |last2=Ross |first3=Matthew |last3=Cole|work=ABC News|date=December 31, 2009|access-date=April 9, 2010}}</ref> Al-Awlaki's father proclaimed his son's innocence in an interview with CNN's [[Paula Newton]], saying: "I am now afraid of what they will do with my son. He's not Osama bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not." Responding to a Yemeni official's assertions that his son had taken refuge with al-Qaeda, Nasser said: "He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al-Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now."<ref name="not osama">{{Cite news |last=Newton |first=Paula |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/10/yemen.al.awlaki.father/index.html |title=Al-Awlaki's father: My son is 'not Osama bin Laden'|publisher=CNN|date=January 10, 2010|access-date=January 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114043052/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/10/yemen.al.awlaki.father/index.html|archive-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Yemeni government attempted to get the tribal leaders to release al-Awlaki to their custody.<ref name=trib /> They promised they would not turn him over to U.S. authorities for questioning.<ref name=trib /> The governor of Shabwa said in January 2010 that al-Awlaki was on the move with members of al-Qaeda, including [[Fahd al-Quso]], who was wanted in connection with the [[USS Cole bombing|bombing of the USS ''Cole'']].<ref name=trib />

In January 2010, White House lawyers debated whether or not it was legal to kill al-Awlaki, given his U.S. citizenship.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-mulls-legality-killing-american-al-qaeda-turncoat/story?id=9651830 |last1=Cole|first1=Matthew|first2=Richard |last2=Esposito |first3=Brian |last3=Ross|title=U.S. Mulls Legality of Killing American al Qaeda 'Turncoat'; Opportunities to 'Take Out' Radical Cleric Anwar Awlaki In Yemen 'May Have Been Missed'|work=ABC News|date=January 25, 2010|access-date=April 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330171031/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/us-mulls-legality-killing-american-al-qaeda-turncoat/story?id=9651830|archive-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> U.S. officials stated that international law allows targeted killing in the event that the subject is an "[[imminent threat]]".<ref name="nytimes1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/middleeast/07yemen.html|title=U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric|last=Shane|first=Scott|date=April 6, 2010|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=April 6, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408031248/http://www.nytimes.com//2010//04//07//world//middleeast//07yemen.html|archive-date=April 8, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Because he was a U.S. citizen, his killing had to be approved by the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]].<ref name="nytimes1"/> Such action against a U.S. citizen is extremely rare.<ref name="nytimes1"/> As a military enemy of the US, al-Awlaki was not subject to [[Executive Order 11905]], which bans assassination for political reasons.<ref name="tribal warning">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/world/middleeast/10briefs-yementribe.html |title=Yemen: Warning by Cleric's Tribe |agency=Reuters|date=April 9, 2010|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2010}}</ref> The authorization was nevertheless controversial.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bell |first=Josh |url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/killing-al-awlaki-even-when-trying-fight-terrorism-president-must-still |title=Killing of Al-Awlaki: Even When Trying to Fight Terrorism, the President Must Still Follow the Constitution |publisher=Aclu.org |date= July 10, 2011|access-date=October 23, 2012}}</ref>

By February 4, 2010, the New York ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'' reported that al-Awlaki was "now on a targeting list signed off on by the Obama administration".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/02/03/2010-02-03_american_jihadi_alert_terror_pros_say_yemen_qaeda_to_send_yank_recruits.html |last=Meek |first=James Gordon |title=Experts: Al Qaeda in Yemen may send American jihadis, recruited by Anwar al-Awlaki, to attack U.S |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York |date=February 4, 2010 |access-date=February 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207172739/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/02/03/2010-02-03_american_jihadi_alert_terror_pros_say_yemen_qaeda_to_send_yank_recruits.html|archive-date=February 7, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> On April 6, ''The New York Times'' reported that President Obama had authorized the killing of al-Awlaki.<ref name="nytimes1"/>

{{quote box|width=24em|bgcolor= |align=right |quote="Terrorist No. 1, in terms of threat against us."<ref name="nytimes1"/>|source=— Representative [[Jane Harman]], (D-CA), Chairwoman of [[United States House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment|House Subcommittee on Homeland Security]]}}

The al-Awalik tribe responded: "We warn against cooperating with America to kill Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki. We will not stand by idly and watch."<ref name="tribal warning" /> Al-Awlaki's tribe wrote that it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaki is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him. Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaki) will be the target of Al-Awalik weapons", and gave warning "against co-operating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of al-Awlaki.<ref name="aljazeera1">{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/04/201041212105575923.html |title=Yemen's Awlaki family offers deal |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625021149/http://english.aljazeera.net/ |archive-date=June 25, 2008 }}</ref> Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the Yemeni foreign minister, announced that the Yemeni government had not received any evidence from the US, and that "Anwar al-Awlaki has always been looked at as a preacher rather than a terrorist and shouldn't be considered as a terrorist unless the Americans have evidence that he has been involved in terrorism".<ref name="aljazeera1"/>

{{quote box|width=24em|bgcolor= |align=left|quote="al-Awlaki is the most dangerous ideologue in the world. Unlike bin Laden and [[al-Zawahiri]], he doesn't need subtitles on his videos to indoctrinate and influence young people in the West."<ref>{{cite news|last=Somaiya |first=Ravi |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/tracking-the-news-on-air-cargo-explosives/ |title=Tracking the News on Air Cargo Explosives |newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 30, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104080318/http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/tracking-the-news-on-air-cargo-explosives/|archive-date=November 4, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>|source=— Sajjan M. Gohel, Asia-Pacific Foundation}}
In a video clip bearing the imprint of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, issued on April 16 in al-Qaeda's monthly magazine ''Sada Al-Malahem'', al-Awlaki said: "What am I accused of? Of calling for the truth? Of calling for ''jihad'' for the sake of Allah? Of calling to defend the causes of the Islamic nation?"<ref name="ahram1">{{Cite news|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/996/re7.htm|title=Keeping score:Al-Qaeda has a hit list, but so does the CIA. Whose better reflects reality, wonders Nasser Arrabyee|last=Arrabyee|first=Nasser|newspaper=Al-Ahram Weekly|location=Cairo, Egypt|date=May 5, 2010|access-date=May 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505140240/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/996/re7.htm|archive-date=May 5, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the video he also praises both Abdulmutallab and Hasan, and describes both as his "students".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8645972.stm |title=Detroit jet bomb suspect Abdulmutallab 'shown in video'|work=BBC News|date=April 27, 2010|access-date=May 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430192832/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8645972.stm|archive-date=April 30, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In late April, [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] [[Charlie Dent]] (R-PA) introduced a resolution urging the [[U.S. State Department]] to withdraw al-Awlaki's U.S. citizenship.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Mike |url=http://congress.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/04/22/rep-introduces-resolution-to-strip-radical-cleric-of-us-citizenship/ |title=Rep. Introduces Resolution to Strip Radical Cleric of US Citizenship |work=Fox News |date=April 22, 2010 |access-date=May 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428042425/http://congress.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/04/22/rep-introduces-resolution-to-strip-radical-cleric-of-us-citizenship/ |archive-date=April 28, 2010}}</ref> By May, U.S. officials believed he had become directly involved in terrorist activities.<ref name="nytimes2"/> Former colleague Abdul-Malik said he "is a terrorist, in my book", and advised shops not to carry any of his publications.<ref name="nytimes2"/> In an editorial, ''Investor's Business Daily'' called al-Awlaki the "world's most dangerous man", and recommended that he be added to the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, a bounty put on his head, that he be designated a [[Specially Designated Global Terrorist]], charged with treason, and extradition papers filed with the Yemeni government. ''IBD'' criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling Senator [[Joe Lieberman]]'s security panel's investigation of al-Awlaki's role in the Fort Hood massacre.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=532892 |title=IBD Editorials Awlaki Strikes Again |work=Investor's Business Daily |date=April 22, 2010 |access-date=May 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513000638/http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=532892 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 13, 2010}}</ref>

On July 16, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.<ref name="washingtonpost3">{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/u-s-born-radical-cleric-added-to-terror-blacklist |title=US-born radical cleric added to terror blacklist |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=July 17, 2010 |first1=Eileen |last1=Sullivan |author-link1=Eileen Sullivan |first2=Matthew | last2=Lee |work=[[Fox News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718015640/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/16/born-radical-cleric-added-terror-blacklist/ |archive-date=July 18, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Stuart Levey]], [[Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence]], called him "extraordinarily dangerous", and said al-Awlaki was involved in several organizational aspects of terrorism, including recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning individual attacks.<ref name="washingtonpost3"/><ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite news|url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/16/treasury-designates-anwar-al-awlaki-key-leader-of-aqap/ |title=Treasury designates Anwar al-Awlaki key leader of AQAP |publisher=CNN |date=July 13, 2010 |access-date=July 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717224900/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/16/treasury-designates-anwar-al-awlaki-key-leader-of-aqap/ |archive-date=July 17, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/tg779 |title=Treasury Designates Anwar Al-Aulaqi, Key Leader of Al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula |access-date=29 September 2023 |work=[[United States Department of the Treasury]] |date=July 16, 2010 }}</ref>

A few days later, the [[United Nations Security Council]] placed al-Awlaki on its [[UN Security Council Resolution 1267]] list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, describing him as a leader, recruiter, and trainer for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.<ref name="nationalpost1">{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=3311083 |title=Canada joins crackdown on radical Muslim cleric |newspaper=National Post |access-date=October 30, 2010 |date=March 30, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=November 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The resolution stipulates that U.N. members must freeze the assets of anyone on the list, and prevent them from travelling or obtaining weapons.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/07/21/Awlaki-lands-on-al-Qaida-suspect-list/UPI-55521279731808/ |title=Awlaki lands on al-Qaida suspect list |work=United Press International |date=July 21, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023142601/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/07/21/Awlaki-lands-on-al-Qaida-suspect-list/UPI-55521279731808/| archive-date=October 23, 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> The following week, Canadian banks were ordered to seize any assets belonging to al-Awlaki. The [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]'s senior counter-terrorism officer Gilles Michaud described him as a "major, major factor in radicalization".<ref name="nationalpost1"/> In September 2010, [[Jonathan Evans (MI5 officer)|Jonathan Evans]], the Director General of the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence agency ([[MI5]]), said that al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8009819/Anwar-al-Awlaki-the-new-Osama-bin-Laden.html |first=Peter |last=Johnston |title=Anwar al Awlaki: the new Osama bin Laden? |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=September 17, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |location=London| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106054944/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/8009819/Anwar-al-Awlaki-the-new-Osama-bin-Laden.html |archive-date=November 6, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2010, U.S. Congressman [[Anthony Weiner]] (D-NY) urged [[YouTube]] to take down al-Awlaki's videos from its website, saying that by hosting al-Awlaki's messages, "We are facilitating the recruitment of homegrown terror."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/25/rep-weiner-calls-youtube-al-awlakis-videos/ |title=Al-Awlaki's YouTube Videos Targeted by Rep. Weiner |publisher=[[Fox News]] |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=October 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028110118/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/25/rep-weiner-calls-youtube-al-awlakis-videos/ |archive-date=October 28, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Pauline Neville-Jones]], British security minister, said "These Web sites ... incite cold-blooded murder."<ref name="nytimes3">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/world/05britain.html | work=The New York Times | first1=John F. | last1=Burns | first2=Miguel | last2=Helft | title=YouTube Withdraws Cleric's Videos | date=November 4, 2010}}</ref> YouTube began removing the material in November 2010.<ref name="nytimes3"/>

Al-Awlaki was charged ''[[trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' in Sana'a, Yemen, on November 2 with plotting to kill foreigners and being a member of al-Qaeda.<ref name="NYP1102">{{cite news|url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/yemen_charges_us_born_radical_cleric_eKVOsOnLRdfxHZVi6p4iJJ |first=Matt |last=Apuzzo |title=Yemen charges US-born radical cleric al-Awlaki |agency=Associated Press |date=November 2, 2010 |access-date=November 3, 2010 |work=New York Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105035820/http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/yemen_charges_us_born_radical_cleric_eKVOsOnLRdfxHZVi6p4iJJ |archive-date=November 5, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ali al-Saneaa, the head of the prosecutor's office, announced the charges during the trial of Hisham Assem, who had been accused of killing Jacques Spagnolo, an oil industry worker. He said that al-Awlaki and Assem had been in contact for months, and that al-Awlaki had encouraged Assem to commit terrorism.<ref name="NYP1102" /><ref name="gulf-times1">{{cite news|url=http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=397642&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806025854/http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=397642&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17 |archive-date=August 6, 2011 |title=Yemen cleric not linked to foreigner's killing: lawyer |newspaper=[[Gulf Times]] |date=November 10, 2010 |access-date=August 16, 2015}}</ref> Al-Awlaki's lawyer said that his client was not connected to Spagnolo's death.<ref name="gulf-times1"/> On November 6, Yemeni Judge Mohsen Alwan ordered that al-Awlaki be caught "dead or alive".<ref name="autogenerated4"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/11/201011613102535305.html |title=Yemen orders arrest of al-Awlaki |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=October 9, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108132254/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/11/201011613102535305.html| archive-date=November 8, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In his book ''Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U.S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack'' (2011), former U.S. Senator [[Joe Lieberman]] described al-Awlaki, Australian Muslim preacher [[Feiz Mohammad]], Muslim cleric [[Abdullah el-Faisal]], and Pakistani-American [[Samir Khan]] as "virtual spiritual sanctioners" who use the internet to offer religious justification for Islamist terrorism.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MAgHGtRvlskC&pg=PA20 |title=Ticking Time Bomb: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from the U. S. Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack |first=Joseph I. |last=Lieberman |author-link=Joe Lieberman |publisher=Diane Publishing |year=2011 |access-date=April 22, 2013 |isbn=978-1-4379-8122-3}}</ref>

==Lawsuit against the US==
In July 2010, al-Awlaki's father, Nasser al-Awlaki, contacted the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]] and the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] to represent his son in a lawsuit that sought to remove Anwar from the targeted killing list.<ref>{{cite web |work=[[Center for Constitutional Rights]] |url=https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/al-aulaqi-v-panetta |title=Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924002309/http://ccrjustice.org/targetedkillings |archive-date=September 24, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> ACLU's [[Jameel Jaffer]] said:

<blockquote>[T]he United States is not at war in Yemen, and the government doesn't have a blank check to kill terrorism suspects wherever they are in the world. Among the arguments we'll be making is that, outside actual war zones, the authority to use lethal force is narrowly circumscribed, and preserving the rule of law depends on keeping this authority narrow.<ref name="seerpress_lawsuit">{{Cite news |url=http://seerpress.com/cia-on-the-verge-of-lawsuit/3341/ |title=CIA on the verge of lawsuit |work=Seer Press News |date=August 5, 2010 |first=Mark |last=Wilson |access-date=August 6, 2010 |archive-date=August 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810200631/http://seerpress.com/cia-on-the-verge-of-lawsuit/3341/ }}</ref></blockquote>

Lawyers for Specially Designated Global Terrorists must obtain a special license from the U.S. Treasury Department before they can represent their clients in court. The lawyers were granted the license on August 4, 2010.<ref name="nytimes_lawsuit">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/world/05terror.html |title=Lawyers Win Right to Aid U.S. Target |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 4, 2010}}</ref>

On August 30, 2010, the groups filed a "targeted killing" lawsuit, naming President Obama, CIA Director [[Leon Panetta]], and Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] as defendants.<ref name="wp_lawsuit">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/30/AR2010083005284.html |title=Rights groups sue over U.S. authority to use terror kill list |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Spencer S. |last=Hsu |date=August 31, 2010}}</ref><ref name="ccr_complaint">{{cite web|url=https://ccrjustice.org/files/Al-Aulaqi%20v.%20Obama%20Complaint.pdf |title=Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (Violation of constitutional rights and international law&nbsp;– targeted killing) |work=[[United States District Court for the District of Columbia]] |access-date=29 September 2023 |date=August 30, 2010 |first=Arthur B. |last=Spitzer |via=[[Center for Constitutional Rights]] }}</ref> They sought an [[injunction]] preventing the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, and also sought to require the government to disclose the standards under which U.S. citizens may be "targeted for death". Judge [[John D. Bates]] dismissed the lawsuit in an 83-page ruling, holding that the father did not have [[legal standing]] to bring the lawsuit, and that his claims were judicially unreviewable under the [[political question doctrine]] inasmuch as he was questioning a decision that the U.S. Constitution committed to the political branches.<ref name="Perez"/><ref name="ACLU">{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/2010-12-7-AulaqivObama-Decision.pdf |title=United States District Court for the District of Columbia: Civil Action No. 101-1469 (JDB) |publisher=Aclu.org |access-date=January 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129194634/http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/2010-12-7-AulaqivObama-Decision.pdf |archive-date=November 29, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Debra Cassens |last=Weiss |url=https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_tosses_suit_seeking_to_prevent_targeted_killing_of_cleric_who_urged_j/ |title=Judge Tosses Suit Seeking to Prevent Targeted Killing of Cleric Who Urged Jihad |magazine=ABA Journal |date=December 7, 2010 |access-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref>

On May 5, 2011, the United States tried but failed to kill al-Awlaki by firing a missile from an unmanned drone at a car in Yemen.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-yemen-drones-20110507,0,7683927.story | work=Los Angeles Times | first=David S. | last=Butt | title=U.S.-born cleric was target of Yemen drone strike | date=May 7, 2011}}</ref> A Yemeni security official said that two al-Qaeda operatives in the car died.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/yemeni-official-us-drone-strike-kills-2-al-qaeda-operatives/2011/05/05/AF7HrzxF_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |author1=Jeb Boone |author2=Greg Miller |date=May 5, 2011 |title=U.S. drone strike in Yemen is first since 2002}}</ref>

==Death==
{{External media |width = 210px |float=right
 | headerimage=
 | video1 = [http://www.c-span.org/video/?301834-2/white-house-briefing White House Press Briefing, September 30, 2011], "[[Jay Carney]] briefed reporters and answered questions on a number of issues, including the killing of the leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula (AQAP) Anwar al-Awlaki by a U.S. drone attack in a remote town of Yemen."<ref name="cspan a">{{cite web|title=White House Press Briefing |publisher=[[C-SPAN]] |date=September 30, 2011 |url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?301834-2/white-house-briefing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310212656/https://www.c-span.org/video/?301834-2%2Fwhite-house-briefing |archive-date=March 10, 2017 |access-date=July 16, 2016 }}</ref> }}

On September 30, 2011, al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in [[Al Jawf Governorate]], [[Yemen]], according to U.S. sources, the strike was carried out by [[Joint Special Operations Command]], under the direction of the CIA.<ref name="foxnews">{{cite news |last=Griffin |first=Jennifer |date=April 7, 2010 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/two-u-s-born-terrorists-killed-in-cia-led-drone-strike |url-status=live |title=Two U.S.-Born Terrorists Killed In CIA-Led Drone Strike |work=Fox News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930163308/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/30/us-born-terror-boss-anwar-al-awlaki-killed/ |access-date=October 1, 2011 |archive-date=2011-09-30 }}</ref> A witness said the group he was in had stopped to eat breakfast while traveling to [[Ma'rib Governorate]]. The occupants of the vehicle spotted the drone and attempted to flee in the vehicle before [[Hellfire missiles]] were fired<ref>{{cite news |access-date=29 September 2023 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/30/anwar-al-awlaki-yemen |work=[[The Guardian]] |title=Anwar al-Awlaki death: US keeps role under wraps to manage Yemen fallout |date=September 30, 2011 |location=London |first1=Dominic |last1=Rushe |first2=Chris |last2=McGreal |first3=Jason |last3=Burke |first4=Luke |last4=Harding}}</ref> Yemen's Defense Ministry announced that al-Awlaki had been killed.<ref>{{cite news |access-date=29 September 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15121879 |location=London |work=BBC News |title=Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki 'killed in Yemen' |date=September 30, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/terror-boss-anwar-al-awlaki-killed-yemen-defence-ministry-says/story-fn3dxity-1226154340361 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930180459/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/terror-boss-anwar-al-awlaki-killed-yemen-defence-ministry-says/story-fn3dxity-1226154340361 |archive-date=2011-09-30 |url-status=dead |location=Australia |work=The Australian |title=Terror boss Anwar al Awlaki killed, Yemen defence ministry says |date=September 30, 2011}}</ref> Also killed was [[Samir Khan]], an American born in Saudi Arabia, thought to be behind al-Qaeda's English-language web magazine ''[[Inspire (magazine)|Inspire]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=J. David |date=September 30, 2011 |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/american-who-waged-media-jihad-is-said-to-be-killed-in-awlaki-strike/ |title=American Who Waged 'Media Jihad' Is Said to Be Killed in Awlaki Strike |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref> U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] said:

<blockquote>The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate. He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda. [The strike] is further proof that Al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.<ref name="foxnews" /></blockquote>

Journalist and author [[Glenn Greenwald]], who would later collaborate with US whistleblower [[Edward Snowden]], argued on ''[[Salon.com]]'' that killing al-Awlaki violated his [[First Amendment]] right of [[Freedom of speech in the United States|free speech]] and that doing so outside of a criminal proceeding violated the Constitution's [[due process clause]], specifically citing the 1969 Supreme Court decision in ''[[Brandenburg v. Ohio]]'' that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force."<ref>{{cite web |last=Greenwald |first=Glenn |date=June 1, 2011 |url=https://www.salon.com/2011/06/01/free_speech_4/ |title=Criminalizing free speech |work=[[Salon.com]] |access-date=29 September 2023 }}</ref> He mentioned doubt among Yemeni experts about al-Awlaki's role in al-Qaeda, and called U.S. government accusations against him unverified and lacking in evidence.<ref>{{cite web |last=Greenwald |first=Glenn |date=September 30, 2011 |url=https://www.salon.com/2011/09/30/awlaki_6/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |title=The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality |work=[[Salon.com]] }}</ref>

In a letter dated May 22, 2013, to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee, [[Patrick J. Leahy]], U.S. attorney general Eric Holder wrote that

<blockquote>high-level U.S. government officials [...] concluded that al-Aulaqi posed a continuing and imminent threat of violent attack against the United States. Before carrying out the operation that killed al-Aulaqi, senior officials also determined, based on a careful evaluation of the circumstances at the time, that it was not feasible to capture al-Aulaqi. In addition, senior officials determined that the operation would be conducted consistent with applicable law of war principles, including the cardinal principles of (1) necessity{{snd}}the requirement that the target have definite military value; (2) distinction{{snd}}the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted; (3) proportionality{{snd}}the notion that the anticipated collateral damage of an action cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage; and (4) humanity{{snd}}a principle that requires us to use weapons that will not inflict unnecessary suffering. The operation was also undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty. [...] The decision to target Anwar al-Aulaqi was lawful, it was considered, and it was just.<ref>{{cite web|last=Holder|first=Eric|title=Eric Holder's May 22, 2013 letter to the U.S. Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick J. Leahy|url=https://www.justice.gov/slideshow/AG-letter-5-22-13.pdf|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|access-date=2 June 2013|date=22 May 2013}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:2011 "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa'ida or An Associated Force".pdf|thumb|right|The Department of Justice's memo justifying the rationale for the drone strike on al-Awlaki.]]
On April 21, 2014, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that the Obama administration must release documents justifying its drone killings of foreigners and Americans, including Anwar al-Awlaki.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wolfgang|first1=Ben|title=Court rules Obama administration must justify targeted killings|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/21/court-rules-obama-administration-must-justify-targ/|access-date=August 15, 2014|work=The Washington Times |date=August 21, 2014}}</ref> In June 2014, the [[United States Department of Justice]] disclosed a 2010 memorandum<ref name="DOJMemo">{{cite news|title=Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa'ida or An Associated Force |work=U.S. Department of Justice |url=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/020413_DOJ_White_Paper.pdf |via=NBC News |access-date=August 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826075931/http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/020413_DOJ_White_Paper.pdf|archive-date=August 26, 2014}}</ref> written by the acting head of the department's [[Office of Legal Counsel]], [[David J. Barron]].<ref name="s=NYTimes2014-06-23">{{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Charlie |author-link=Charlie Savage (author) |title=Justice Department Memo Approving Targeted Killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/23/us/23awlaki-memo.html |access-date=August 15, 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 23, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sledge |first1=Matt |title=Drone Memo Justifying Anwar al-Awlaki's Killing Released |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anwar-al-awlaki-drone-memo_n_5522067 |access-date=August 15, 2014 |work=HuffPost |date=June 23, 2014}}</ref> The memo stated that Anwar al-Awlaki was a significant threat with an infeasible probability of capture. Barron therefore justified the killing as legal, as "the Constitution would not require the government to provide further process".<ref name=lauterphelps/> ''[[The New York Times]]'' Editorial Board dismissed the memo's rationale for al-Awlaki's killing, saying it "provides little confidence that the lethal action was taken with real care", instead describing it as "a slapdash pastiche of legal theories—some based on obscure interpretations of British and Israeli law—that was clearly tailored to the desired result."<ref name="thinrationale">{{cite news |author=Editorial Board |title=A Thin Rationale for Drone Killings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/opinion/a-thin-rationale-for-drone-killings.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 24, 2014 |access-date=November 18, 2015 }}</ref> A lawyer for the [[ACLU]] described the memo as "disturbing" and "ultimately an argument that the president can order targeted killings of Americans without ever having to account to anyone outside the executive branch."<ref name=lauterphelps>{{cite news |last1=Lauter |first1=David |last2=Phelps |first2=Timothy |date=June 23, 2014 |title=Memo justifying drone killing of American Al Qaeda leader is released |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-drone-memo-awlaki-20140623-story.html |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=November 18, 2015 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[Seth Jones (political scientist)|Seth Jones]], an American political scientist specializing in al-Qaeda, considers that the continuing relevance of al-Awlaki is due to his fluency in the English language as well as his charisma, precising that "he had a disarming aura and unnerving confidence, with an easy smile and a soothing, eloquent voice. He stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall [{{convert|73|in|cm|disp=out}}], weighed 160 pounds [{{convert|160|lb|kg|disp=out}}], and had a thick black beard, an oversized nose, and wire-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a clear, almost hypnotic voice."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXjzfPj_LucC&pg=PT284 |first=Seth G. |last=Jones |title=Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa'ida since 9/11: The Pursuit of al Qa'ida since 9/11 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2012 |page=293 |isbn=9780393084023 }}</ref>

Awlaki's videos and writings remain highly popular on the internet, where they continue to be readily accessible.<ref name="pool">{{cite news |first1=Scott |last1=Shane |first2=Richard |last2=Pérez-Peña |first3=Aurelien |last3=Breeden |date=September 22, 2016 |title='In-Betweeners' Are Part of a Rich Recruiting Pool for Jihadists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/us/isis-al-qaeda-recruits-anwar-al-awlaki.html |newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref> Those who viewed and still view his videos are estimated by journalist [[Scott Shane]] to number in the hundreds of thousands,<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Shane |date=September 17, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/opinion/sunday/an-al-qaeda-martyrs-enduring-pitch.html |title=An Al Qaeda Martyr's Enduring Pitch |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 30, 2020 }}</ref> while his father Dr. Nasser Awlaqi says that "five million preaching tapes of Anwar Awlaqi have been sold in the West."<ref>{{cite news |first=Hakim |last=Almasmari |date=April 10, 2010 |url=http://www.yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=100&SubID=1781&MainCat=4 |title=Dr. Nasser Awlaqi, Father of Sheikh Anwar Awlaqi |work=Yemen Post |access-date=March 30, 2020 }}</ref> And thus, even following his death, Awlaki has continued to inspire his devotees to carry out terrorist attacks, including the 2013 [[Boston Marathon bombing]], the [[2015 San Bernardino attack]], and the 2016 [[Orlando nightclub shooting]].<ref name="urged">{{cite news |date=December 18, 2015 |title=Internet Firms Urged to Limit Work of Anwar al-Awlaki |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/us/politics/internet-firms-urged-to-limit-work-of-anwar-al-awlaki.html |newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=June 21, 2016 |title=Friend Who Told FBI About Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen Saw a 'Red Flag' |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/friend-who-told-fbi-about-orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-saw-n596496 |publisher=NBC News }}</ref> According to the [[Counter Extremism Project]] (CEP), 88 "extremists," 54 in the U.S. and 34 in Europe, have been influenced by Awlaki.<ref name="pool"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Anwar al-Awlaki's Ties to Extremists |url=https://www.counterextremism.com/anwar-al-awlaki |work=Counter Extremism Project }}</ref> Because "his work has inspired countless plots and attacks," CEP has "called on YouTube and other platforms to permanently ban Mr. Awlaki's material, including his early, mainstream lectures."<ref name="urged"/><ref>{{cite press release |access-date=29 September 2023 |date=December 21, 2015 |title=CEP Highlights Importance of Removing Anwar al-Awlaki from Social Media – Particularly YouTube |url=https://www.counterextremism.com/press/cep-highlights-importance-removing-anwar-al-awlaki-social-media-%E2%80%93-particularly-youtube |work=Counter Extremism Project }}</ref>

==FOIA documents==
During the FBI investigation of the 9/11 attacks, it was discovered that a few of the attackers had attended the mosques in San Diego and Falls Church with which al-Awlaki was associated. Interviews with members of the San Diego mosque showed that Nawaz al-Hazmi, one of the attackers, may have had a private conversation with him. On that basis he was placed under 24-hour surveillance. It was discovered that he regularly patronized prostitutes.<ref name=FBI6202>{{cite news |first=Pasquale |last=D'Amuro |title=F.B.I. Memorandum From June 4, 2002, on the Possibility of Filing Prostitution-Related Charges Against Anwar al-Awlaki |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/26/magazine/30mag-awlaki-document-1.html |access-date=August 30, 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 4, 2002}}</ref> It was through FBI interrogation of prostitutes and escort service operators that al-Awlaki was tipped off in 2002 about FBI surveillance. Shortly thereafter, he left the United States.<ref name=Lessons/>

In January 2013, Fox News announced that FBI documents obtained by [[Judicial Watch]] through a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] request showed possible connections between al-Awlaki and the September 11 attackers.<ref>{{cite news |first=Catherine |last=Herridge |title=Cleric may have booked pre-9/11 flights for hijackers, FBI documents show |date=January 4, 2013 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-cleric-may-have-booked-pre-9-11-flights-for-hijackers-fbi-documents-show |work=[[Fox News]] |access-date=January 5, 2013}}</ref> According to Judicial Watch, the documents show that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and Las Vegas. Judicial Watch further stated that al-Awlaki "was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance."

When queried by Fox News, the FBI denied having evidence connecting al-Awlaki and the September 11 attacks: "The FBI cautions against drawing conclusions from redacted FOIA documents. The FBI and investigating bodies have not found evidence connecting Anwar al-Awlaki and the attack on September 11, 2001. The document referenced does not link Anwar al-Awlaki with any purchase of airline tickets for the hijackers."

==Family==
===Abdulrahman al-Awlaki===
{{Main|Abdulrahman al-Awlaki}}
Anwar al-Awlaki and [[Egypt]]ian-born Gihan Mohsen Baker had a son, Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, born August 26, 1995, in [[Denver]], who was an American citizen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/documents/abdulrahman-al-awlaki-birth-certificate.html |title=Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's birth certificate |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=November 20, 2012}}</ref> Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed on October 14, 2011, in Yemen at the age of 16 in an American drone strike. Nine other people were killed in the same CIA-initiated attack, including a 17-year-old cousin of Abdulrahman.<ref name="time.com">{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097899,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028033827/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097899,00.html | archive-date=October 28, 2011 | magazine=Time | title=An American Teenager in Yemen: Paying for the Sins of His Father? | date=October 27, 2011}}</ref> According to his relatives, shortly before his father's death, Abdulrahman had left the family home in Sana'a and travelled to Shabwa in search of his father who was believed to be in hiding in that area (though he was actually hundreds of miles away at the time <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a14627/obama-lethal-presidency-0812/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128061540/http://www.esquire.com/features/obama-lethal-presidency-0812-5 |first=Tom |last=Junod |title=The Lethal Presidency of Barack Obama |date=9 July 2012 |archive-date=January 28, 2013}}</ref>). Abdulrahman was sitting in an open-air cafe in Shabwa when killed. According to U.S. officials, the killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was a mistake; the intended target was an Egyptian, [[Ibrahim al-Banna]], who was not at the targeted location at the time of the attack.<ref name=NYT031013/> Human rights groups have raised questions as to why an American citizen was killed by the United States in a country with which the United States is not officially at war. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was not known to have any independent connection to terrorism.<ref name=NYT031013>{{cite news |title=How a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America's Cross Hairs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-a-us-citizen-in-americas-cross-hairs.html |access-date=March 10, 2013 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 9, 2013 |author-link=Mark Mazzetti |first=Mark |last=Mazzetti |author-link2=Charlie Savage (author) |first2=Charlie |last2=Savage |first3=Scott |last3=Shane |author-link3=Scott Shane |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929122752/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-a-us-citizen-in-americas-cross-hairs.html |archive-date=September 29, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Nasser al-Awlaki===
{{Main|Nasser al-Awlaki}}
Nasser al-Awlaki is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki stated he believed his son had been wrongly accused and was not a member of Al Qaeda.<ref name="not osama"/> After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser in an interview in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine called the killings a crime and condemned U.S. President Obama directly, saying: "I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer."<ref name="articles.cnn.com">{{cite news |date=October 15, 2011 |title=Official: Drone attack kills Al-Awlaki's son in Yemen |work=[[CNN]] |first=Hakim |last=Almasmari |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/15/world/meast/yemen-drone-attack/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015215440/https://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/15/world/meast/yemen-drone-attack/index.html |archive-date=October 15, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="time.com"/>

In 2013, Nasser al-Awlaki published <ref name=nymagnasser>{{cite journal |first=Margaret |last=Hartmann |date=July 18, 2013 |title=Al-Awlaki Asks Why 16-Year-Old Grandson was Killed by Drone Strike |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/07/grandfather-asks-why-teen-was-killed-by-drone.html |journal=New York |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> an [[op-ed]] in ''The New York Times'' stating that two years after killing his grandson, the [[Obama administration]] still declines to provide an explanation.<ref name=nasseroped>{{cite news |first=Nasser |last=al-Awlaki |date=July 17, 2013 |title=The Drone that Killed My Grandson |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/opinion/the-drone-that-killed-my-grandson.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2012, Nasser al-Awlaki filed a lawsuit, ''Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta'', challenging the constitutionality of the drone killings of his son and grandson. This lawsuit was dismissed in April 2014 by [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|D.C. District Court]] Judge [[Rosemary M. Collyer]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Edvard |last=Pettersson |date=April 5, 2014 |title=Drone Strike Suit Over U.S. Citizen Deaths Dismissed |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-05/drone-strike-suit-over-u-s-citizen-deaths-dismissed.html |work=Bloomberg News |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref><ref name=aulaqipanetta>{{cite press release |title=Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging U.S. Drone Killings of Three Americans |url=https://www.aclu.org/national-security/court-dismisses-lawsuit-challenging-us-drone-killings-three-americans |location=Washington, DC |publisher=ACLU |date=April 4, 2014 |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>

===Tariq al-Dahab===
{{Main|Tariq al-Dahab}}
[[Tariq al-Dahab]], who led al-Qaeda insurgents in Yemen, was a brother-in-law of al-Awlaki. On February 16, 2012, the terrorist organization stated that he had been killed by agents, although media reports contain speculation that he was killed by his brother in a bloody family feud.<ref>{{cite news |access-date=29 September 2023 |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/01/16/Awlaki-relative-led-Yemeni-raid/UPI-70241326727976/ |title=Awlaki relative led Yemeni raid |work=upi.com |date=January 16, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/20/tariq-al-dahab-dead-al-qaeda-yemen_n_1288782.html |work=HuffPost |first=Ryan |last=Craggs |title=Tariq al Dahab, Yemen Al Qaeda Leader, Dead, Says Terrorist Group |date=February 20, 2012}}</ref>

===Nawar al-Awlaki===
{{Main|Nawar al-Awlaki}}
On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, [[Nawar al-Awlaki]], who was an American citizen, was killed in a [[DEVGRU]] [[Raid on Yakla|operation]] authorized by President [[Donald Trump]].<ref name="democracynow.org">{{cite interview |last=Scahill |first=Jeremy |first2=Pardiss |last2=Kebriaei |first3=Baraa |last3=Shiban |interviewer=[[Amy Goodman]] |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2017/2/3/yemen_jeremy_scahill_advocates_question_success |title=Yemen: Jeremy Scahill & Advocates Question 'Success' of Trump Raid That Killed 24 Civilians |work=[[Democracy Now!]] |date=February 3, 2017 |access-date=February 3, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="uk.reuters.com" /><ref name="npr.org"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/22c657cfd06d45748b2fc02c982a647a |title=Military: First-known combat death since Trump in office |first1=Jill |last1=Colvin |first2=Ahmed |last2=Al-Haj |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929141126/https://apnews.com/article/22c657cfd06d45748b2fc02c982a647a |archive-date=29 September 2023 |url-status=live |date=January 29, 2017 |access-date=January 29, 2017 }}</ref>

==Islamic education==
Al-Awlaki's [[Islam]]ic education was primarily informal, and consisted of intermittent months with various scholars reading and contemplating Islamic scholarly works.<ref name=nef/> Despite having no religious qualifications and almost no religious education,<ref name="obituary" /> Al-Awlaki made a name for himself as a public speaker who released popular audio recordings.<ref name="Troy63">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdbVDAAAQBAJ |last=Shane |first=Scott |title=Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone |page=63 |publisher=Tim Duggan Books/Random House |isbn=978-0-8041-4031-7 |access-date=January 12, 2020 |year=2016}}</ref> Some Muslim scholars {{who|date=June 2014}} said they did not understand al{{nbhyph}}Awlaki's popularity, because while he spoke fluent English and could therefore reach a large non-Arabic-speaking audience, he lacked formal Islamic training and study.<ref name="atc">{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123894237 |title=Officials: Cleric Had Role In Christmas Bomb Attempt |last=Temple-Raston |first=Dina |work=[[All Things Considered]] |date=February 19, 2010 |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=March 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221155037/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123894237 |archive-date=February 21, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Ideology==
While imprisoned in Yemen after 2004, al-Awlaki was influenced by the works of [[Sayyid Qutb]], described by ''The New York Times'' as an originator of the contemporary "anti-Western ''Jihadist'' movement".<ref name="nytimes2"/> He read 150 to 200 pages a day of Qutb's works, and described himself as "so immersed with the author I would feel Sayyid was with me in my cell speaking to me directly".<ref name="nytimes2"/>

Terrorism consultant [[Evan Kohlmann]] in 2009 referred to al-Awlaki as "one of the principal ''jihadi'' luminaries for would-be [[Homegrown terrorism|homegrown terrorists]]. His fluency with English, his unabashed advocacy of ''jihad'' and mujahideen organizations, and his Web-savvy approach are a powerful combination." He called al-Awlaki's lecture, "Constants on the Path of ''Jihad''", which he says was based on a similar document written by al-Qaeda's founder, the "virtual bible for lone-wolf Muslim extremists".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fort-hood-probe9-2009nov09,0,5487900.story |last=Meyer |first=Josh |title=Fort Hood shooter's ties to mosque investigated |date=November 9, 2009 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=January 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112103822/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fort-hood-probe9-2009nov09%2C0%2C5487900.story |archive-date=November 12, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Philip Mudd, formerly of the CIA's [[National Counterterrorism Center]] and the FBI's top intelligence adviser, called him "a magnetic character&nbsp;... a powerful orator."<ref name="nytimes2"/> He attracted young men to his lectures, especially US-based and UK-based Muslims.<ref name="ghosh">{{cite magazine |last=Ghosh |first=Bobby |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1953426-3,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118085651/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1953426-3,00.html|archive-date=January 18, 2010|title=How Dangerous Is the Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki?|magazine=Time|date=January 13, 2010|access-date=April 16, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122062942|title=In Bomb Plot Probe, Spotlight Falls On Yemeni Cleric|first=Dina|last=Temple-Raston|publisher=NPR|date=December 30, 2009|access-date=April 16, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313142140/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122062942|archive-date=March 13, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

U.S. officials and some U.S. media sources called al-Awlaki an [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalist]] and accused him of encouraging terrorism.<ref name="nytimes homegrown"/><ref name = "wash post"/><ref name=rec>{{Cite news |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/11/20/79261/is-imam-a-terror-recruiter-or.html |title=Is imam a terror recruiter or just an incendiary preacher? |last=Allam |first=Hannah |date=November 22, 2009 |work=McClatchy |access-date=May 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425160621/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/11/20/79261/is-imam-a-terror-recruiter-or.html|archive-date=April 25, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to documents recovered from bin Laden's hideout, the al-Qaeda leader was unsure about al-Awlaki's qualifications.<ref>{{cite news|last=Serwer|first=Adam|title=Al Qaeda Gripes About Its Fanatical Internet Followers|url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/05/takeaways-osama-bin-laden-documents|access-date=February 9, 2013|newspaper=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|date=May 3, 2012}}</ref>

==Works==
The [[Nine Eleven Finding Answers Foundation]] said al-Awlaki's ability to write and speak in fluent English enabled him to incite English-speaking Muslims to terrorism.<ref name=nef /> Al-Awlaki notes in ''44 Ways to Support Jihad'' that most reading material on the subject is in Arabic.<ref name=nef />

===Written works===
* ''44 Ways to Support Jihad'': Essay (January 2009).<ref name="drones deployed">{{Cite news|author1=Con Coughlin|author2=Philip Sherwell|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/7663661/American-drones-deployed-to-target-Yemeni-terrorist.html|title=American drones deployed to target Yemeni terrorist|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=May 2, 2010|access-date=May 12, 2010| location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506130012/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/7663661/American-drones-deployed-to-target-Yemeni-terrorist.html|archive-date=May 6, 2010|url-status= live}}</ref> In it, al-Awlaki states that "The hatred of ''[[kuffar]]'' is a central element of our military creed" and that all Muslims are obligated to participate in ''jihad'', either by committing the acts themselves or supporting others who do so. He says all Muslims must remain physically fit so as to be prepared for conflict.<ref name=nef/><ref name=dt/> According to U.S. officials, it is considered a key text for al-Qaeda members.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://theweek.com/article/index/102685/who-is-anwar-al-awlaki |title=Who is Anwar al-Awlaki? |work=The Week |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=May 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526124205/http://theweek.com/article/index/102685/who-is-anwar-al-awlaki|archive-date=May 26, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* Al-Awlaki wrote for ''Jihad Recollections'', an English language online publication published by Al-Fursan Media.<ref name="adl.org"/>
* ''Allah is Preparing Us for Victory''&nbsp;– short book (2009).<ref>{{cite web|last=Al-Awlaqi |first=Anwar |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FVRO3M |title=Allah Is Preparing Us for Victory |publisher=Amazon.com |access-date=April 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519173652/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FVRO3M |archive-date=May 19, 2011 }}</ref>

===Lectures===
* '' Lectures'' on the book ''Constants on the Path of Jihad'' by [[al-Ayiri]]—concerns leaderless ''jihad''.<ref name=nef />
* In 2009, the UK government found 1,910 of his videos had been posted to YouTube. One of them had been viewed 164,420 times.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gardham |first=Duncan |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/7822761/Anwar-al-Awlaki-MI5-warns-of-the-al-Qaeda-preacher-targeting-Britain.html |title=Anwar al-Awlaki: MI5 warns of the al-Qaeda preacher targeting Britain |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=June 11, 2010 |access-date=August 15, 2015 |location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021165148/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/7822761/Anwar-al-Awlaki-MI5-warns-of-the-al-Qaeda-preacher-targeting-Britain.html|archive-date=October 21, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''The Battle of Hearts and Minds''
* ''The Dust Will Never Settle Down''
* ''Dreams & Interpretations''
* ''The [[Islamic eschatology#The Current existence of the Afterlife|Hereafter]]''—16 CDs—[[Homaidan Al-Turki#Background|Al Basheer Productions]]<ref name=inf />
* ''[[Prophetic biography|Life of Muhammad]]: Makkan Period''—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
* ''Life of Muhammad: Medinan Period''—Lecture in 2 Parts—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
* ''Lives of the [[Prophets of Islam|Prophets]] (AS)''—16 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
* ''[[Abu Bakr|Abu Bakr as-Siddiq]] (RA): His Life & Times''—15 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
* ''[[Umar ibn al-Khattāb]] (RA): His Life & Times''—18 CDs—Al Basheer Productions
* ''25 Promises from Allah to the Believer''—2 CDs—Noor Productions
* ''Companions of the Ditch & Lessons from the Life of Musa (AS)''—2 CDs—Noor Productions
* ''Remembrance of Allah & the Greatest Ayah''—2 CDs—Noor Productions
* ''Stories from [[Hadith]]''—4 CDs—Center for Islamic Information and Education ("CIIE")
* ''[[Jahannam|Hellfire]] & The Day of Judgment''—CD—CIIE
* ''Quest for Truth: The Story of [[Salman Al-Farsi]] (RA)''—CD—CIIE
* ''Trials & Lessons for Muslim Minorities''—CD—CIIE
* ''Young Ayesha (RA) & Mothers of the Believers (RA)''—CD—CIIE
* ''Understanding the [[Quran]]''—CD—CIIE
* ''Lessons from the Companions (RA) Living as a Minority''—CD—CIIE
* ''Virtues of the [[Sahabah]]''—video lecture series promoted by the al-Wasatiyyah Foundation

===Website===
Al-Awlaki maintained a website and [[blog]] on which he shared his views.<ref name="dal"/> On December 11, 2008, he said Muslims should not seek to "serve in the armies of the disbelievers and fight against his brothers".<ref name=dal/>

In "44 Ways to Support ''Jihad''", posted on his blog in February 2009, al-Awlaki encouraged others to "fight ''jihad''", and explained how to give money to the ''mujahideen'' or their families. Al-Awlaki's sermon encourages others to conduct weapons training, and raise children "on the love of ''Jihad''".<ref name="adl.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/anwar_al-awlaki.htm |title=Profile: Anwar al-Awlaki, Introduction |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |date=May 7, 2010 |access-date=May 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508110152/http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/anwar_al-awlaki.htm |archive-date=May 8, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> Also that month, he wrote: "I pray that Allah destroys America and all its allies."<ref name=dal /> He wrote as well: "We will implement the rule of Allah on Earth by the tip of the sword, whether the masses like it or not."<ref name=dal /> On July 14, he said that Muslim countries should not offer military assistance to the US. "The blame should be placed on the soldier who is willing to follow orders ... who sells his religion for a few dollars," he said.<ref name=dal /> In blog post dated July 15, 2009, entitled "Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World", al-Awlaki wrote, "Blessed are those who fight against [American soldiers], and blessed are those [[shuhada]] [martyrs] who are killed by them."<ref name="adl.org"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/18/politics/washingtonpost/main5696665.shtml |last=Hsu |first=Spencer S. |title=Hasan Epitomizes U.S. 'Self-Radicalizing'; Accused Fort Hood Gunman Had Ties to Radical Cleric But Imam's Rhetoric on Web Fell Short of Triggering Legal Action |date=November 18, 2009 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 24, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In a video posted to the internet on November 8, 2010, al-Awlaki called for Muslims to kill Americans "without hesitation", and overthrow Arab governments that cooperate with the US. "Don't consult with anyone in fighting the Americans, fighting the devil doesn't require consultation or prayers or seeking divine guidance. They are the party of the devils", al-Awlaki said.<ref name="nytimes4"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=397344&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17 |title=Kill Americans at will, says US-Yemeni cleric |agency=AFP/Sanaa |newspaper=[[Gulf Times]] |date=November 9, 2010 |access-date=November 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113013709/http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=397344&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17 |archive-date=November 13, 2010 }}</ref> That month, Intelligence Research Specialist Kevin Yorke of the [[New York Police Department]]'s Counterterrorism Division called him "the most dangerous man in the world".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/10/anwar-awlaki-most-dangerous-man-in-world/ |title=Anwar Awlaki 'Most Dangerous Man in World' |work=Fox News |first=Rick |last=Leventhal |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=November 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113083734/http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/10/anwar-awlaki-most-dangerous-man-in-world/ |archive-date=November 13, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/awlaki-dangerous-man-world/story?id=12109217 |first1=Matthew |last1=Cole |first2=Aaron |last2=Katersky |title=Awlaki: 'The Most Dangerous Man in The World' |work=ABC News |date=October 29, 2010 |access-date=November 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112195631/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/awlaki-dangerous-man-world/story?id=12109217 |archive-date=November 12, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Church Committee]]
* [[Executive Order 12333]]
* [[Extrajudicial killing]]
* [[International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA]]
* [[Protocol I]]
{{Portal bar|Biography|Islam|United States}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*al-Ashanti, AbdulHaq and Sloan, Abu Ameenah AbdurRahman. (2011) ''A Critique of the Methodology of Anwar al-Awlaki and his Errors in the Fiqh of Jihad''. London: Jamiah Media, 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-9567281-4-2}}
*{{Cite news |title=Fort Hood shooting: Was Nidal Malik Hasan inspired by militant cleric? |first=Dan |last=Murphy |url=http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/10/fort-hood-shooting-was-nidal-malik-hasan-inspired-by-militant-cleric/ |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |location=Boston |date=November 10, 2009 |access-date=November 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113023805/http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/10/fort-hood-shooting-was-nidal-malik-hasan-inspired-by-militant-cleric/|archive-date=November 13, 2009 |url-status=live}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikinews|US freezes assets of suspected terrorist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111129194634/http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/2010-12-7-AulaqivObama-Decision.pdf Ruling of Judge Bates in Al Aulaqi v Obama]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com/ |date=* |title=Archive of anwar-alawlaki.com }}
*{{IMDb name|5165579}}
;Statements
;Interviews
*{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0927_imampart1.html|title=Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar's Perspective—Part 1 |last= Handwerk|first=Brian|author2=Zain Habboo|date=September 28, 2001|publisher=National Geographic News|access-date=May 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330125445/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0927_imampart1.html|archive-date=March 30, 2010 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0927_imampart2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011018011943/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0927_imampart2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 18, 2001|title=Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar's Perspective—Part 2 |last= Handwerk|first=Brian|author2=Zain Habboo|date=September 28, 2001|publisher=National Geographic News|access-date=May 10, 2010}}
*[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/religion/july-dec09/alawlaki_11-11.html "Exclusive; Ray Suarez: My Post-9/11 Interview With Anwar al-Awlaki"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115150024/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/religion/july-dec09/alawlaki_11-11.html |date=January 15, 2014 }}, [[PBS]], October 30, 2001
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120314163558/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/NEFAal-Awlaki1209.pdf "Al-Jazeera Satellite Network Interview with Yemeni-American Cleric Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki Regarding his Alleged Role in Radicalizing Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan]", [[The NEFA Foundation]], December 24, 2009
;Media coverage
*{{Aljazeeratopic|person/anwar-al-awlaki}}
*{{Guardian topic}}
*{{NYTtopic|people/a/anwar_al_awlaki}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130910062809/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/040621/21plot.htm The imam's very curious story: A skirt-chasing mullah is just one more mystery for the 9/11 panel], Ragavan, Chitra, ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'', June 13, 2004
*[https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/november/in-alaska-a-domestic-terrorist-with-a-deadly-plan/in-alaska-a-domestic-terrorist-with-a-deadly-plan DBI.gov]

{{Al-Qaeda}}
{{Islamism}}
{{War on Terrorism}}
{{AmericanTerrorism}}
{{Authority control}}

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