Here is a look into the life of Anwar al-Awlaki, American-born Muslim scholar and cleric who acted as a spokesperson for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Personal:
Birth date: April 21, 1971
Death date: September 30, 2011
Birth place: Las Cruces, New Mexico
Birth name: Anwar al-Awlaki
Father: Nasser al-Awlaki (a former government minister and university president)
Marriage: Married to a cousin (1994-September 30, 2011, his death)
Children: Five (some sources say three)
Education: Colorado State University, B.S. in Civil Engineering; San Diego State University, Masters in Education; George Washington University, attended a Ph.D. Human Resources program
Other Facts:
Lived in the United States until age seven when his family returned to Yemen. Al-Awlaki returned to the United States in 1991 for college and remained until 2002. He then briefly lived in London before returning to Yemen.
Was arrested in San Diego in 1996 and 1997 for soliciting prostitutes.
As an imam in California and Virginia, al-Awlaki preached to, and interacted with, three of the 9/11 hijackers according to the 9/11 Commission Report. He publicly condemned the attacks afterward.
Spent 18 months in a Yemeni prison in 2006-2007 on kidnapping charges, but was released without going to trial. Al-Awlaki claims that he was imprisoned and held at the request of the United States.
Civil rights groups ACLU and CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights) filed lawsuits on behalf of Nasser al-Awlaki, seeking to prevent the United States from killing his son in a targeted assassination.
Timeline:
November 5, 2009 – Army Major Nidal Hasan kills 13 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. Al-Awlaki is suspected of communicating with Hasan, according to the United States government.
December 25, 2009 – Date of the failed plot to bring down a jetliner over Detroit. Al-Awlaki is suspected of directing the plot, according to the United States government.
2010 – The US Treasury Department names al-Awlaki a specially designated global terrorist.
November 2, 2010 – Is formally charged in absentia with incitement to kill foreigners by Yemeni prosecutors. Charges stem from his connection to suspects in the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt and the Ft. Hood shooting.
January 17, 2011 – A Yemeni court sentences in absentia al-Awlaki to 10 years in prison for charges of inciting to kill foreigners.
May 6, 2011 – A US official tells CNN that al-Awlaki was targeted by a missile strike from a military drone within the last two days. He was not injured, but two al Qaeda operatives were killed.
September 30, 2011 – Is targeted and killed eight kilometers from the town of Khashef in the Province of Jawf by a CIA drone strike.
January 29, 2017 – Nawar al-Awlaki, the 8-year-old daughter of the late Anwar al-Awlaki, is killed in a joint US-UAE military raid on al Qaeda in southern Yemen, according to her family. US officials have not yet confirmed civilian casualties.
