Anwar al-Awlaki dead

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Anwar al-Awlaki, American-born, a gifted Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator, became a powerful al-Qaida tool for recruiting in the West, its English-speaking voice spreading a terrorist credo via a blog, social media posts and email exchanges.

On Friday, al-Awlaki was killed in the mountains of Yemen in what local officials said they believed was an American airstrike. The officials said pilotless drones had been seen circling the area in recent days.

According to American officials, the 40-year-old al-Awlaki had over the years moved from being an influential mouthpiece for al-Qaida’s ideology of holy war against the United States to become an operational figure, helping recruit militants for al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, seen as the most dangerous direct threat to America.