Anwar al-Awlaki: profile of a wanted man

Born April 22, 1971 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA.

Radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki left the country in 2001 to join al-Qaida in Yemen. He is considered one of al-Qaida’s chief operational commanders in that country.

Currently, al-Qaida in Yemen is believed to be the greatest terrorist threat to the U.S.

On Dec. 25, 2009, the group was responsible for a failed attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner in which a passenger hid plastic explosives in his underwear.

Al-Qaida relies on al-Awlaki to attract and communicate with Western jihadists.

In 2009, al-Awlaki was in conversation with U.S. Army Major Nidal Hassan, who is accused of going on a shooting rampage at his Fort Hood, Texas base, killing 12 soldiers and one civilian in November of that year.

While it’s not believed that al-Awlaki helped coordinate the shooting, he did go on to praise Hassan’s actions.

U.S. terrorism and intelligence officials warn of al-Awlaki’s extraordinary commitment to carry out deadly attacks on Americans and others around the world.

In April 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama approved the addition of al-Awlaki to the CIA’s “˜capture or kill’ target list. Later that year in July, the U.S. Treasury Department added him to their list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

The radical Muslim preacher continues to call upon extremist followers to kill Americans. Author and al-Qaida expert Lawrence Wright said yesterday he believes al-Awlaki will become the visible successor to bin Laden within the terrorist group.