CIA drone kills U.S.-born al Qaeda cleric in Yemen

By Erika Solomon and Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA (Reuters)- Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamist militant, was killed in Yemen on Friday in a CIA drone strike described by President Barack Obama as "another significant milestone" in efforts to defeat al Qaeda.

Awlaki's killing deprives the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) of its "chief of external operations," and an eloquent propagandist in English and Arabic who was implicated in attacks on the United States.

"This is further proof that al Qaeda and its affiliates will have no safe haven anywhere in the world," Obama said, adding that Awlaki's death was a tribute to years of counterterrorism cooperation with Yemen.

A U.S. official said Awlaki, 40, had planned and directed attacks against the United States. "In addition, Awlaki publicly urged attacks against U.S. persons and interests worldwide and called for violence against Arab governments he judged to be working against al Qaeda," the official said.

As a web-savvy preacher, Awlaki was seen as an influential international recruiter to the al Qaeda movement. New York's police commissioner Ray Kelly said the city's force was on high alert following the killing.

"We know al-Awlaki had followers in the United States including New York City, and for that reason we remain alert to the possibility that someone might want to avenge his death," Kelly said in a statement. "He was a powerful recruiter of terrorists in the United States."

Yemen's embassy in Washington said Awlaki had been killed some miles from the town of Khashef in the northern province of Jawf, adjacent to Saudi Arabia, at about 9:55 a.m. (2:55 a.m. EDT).

"We found his body in pieces," said Abubakr al-Awlaki, a leader of the Awalik tribe, to which Awlaki belongs. "Why kill him in this brutal, ugly way? Killing him will not solve their problem with al Qaeda, it will just increase their strength and sympathy for (AQAP) in this region."