Al-Qaida branch confirms killing of U.S.-born cleric

CAIRO -- Al-Qaida's Yemeni offshoot on Monday confirmed the killing of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki late last month and vowed to avenge the prominent propagandist's death.

The 40-year-old al-Awlaki, who died in a Sept. 30 U.S. drone strike in the mountains of Yemen, was the most prominent al-Qaida figure to be killed since Osama bin Laden's death in a U.S. raid in Pakistan in May.

He had been in the U.S. crosshairs since his killing was approved by President Barack Obama in April 2010 -- making him the first American placed on the CIA "kill or capture" list.

On Monday, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement posted on Islamist extremist websites that al-Awlaki was killed by an American airstrike, along with three other militants, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites.

AQAP, which has become the most active al-Qaida branch in recent years, vowed to strike back.

"The blood of the sheik [al-Awlaki] and his brothers will not go in vain; there are heroes behind him who do not sleep under oppression, and they will retaliate soon," the group said. "We and the Americans are at war: we get them and they get us, and the end is for those who are patient -- they are the ones who will be victorious."

The strike that killed al-Awlaki also killed a second American, Samir Khan, who edited al-Qaida's Internet magazine.AQAP said two other militants were also killed.

Instigator

Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, was believed to be key in turning al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen into what American officials have called the most significant and immediate threat to the Untied States.

The branch plotted several failed attacks on U.S. soil -- the botched Christmas 2009 attempt to blow up an American airliner heading to Detroit and a foiled 2010 attempt to send mail bombs to Chicago-area synagogues.

Known as an eloquent preacher who spread English-language sermons on the internet calling for "holy war" against the United States, al-Awlaki's role was to inspire and -- it is believed -- even directly recruit militants to carry out attacks.

In its statement Monday, AQAP warned that while the U.S. may have killed al-Awlaki, "it cannot kill his ideas," and that his death "gives new life and revival to his ideas and style."

It said that al-Awlaki "has students who he taught and disciples who benefited from him all over the earth, who will follow his steps and his path."

U.S. officials believe al-Awlaki became involved in operational planning for AQAP, and Yemeni officials have said al-Awlaki had contacts with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused would-be Christmas plane bomber, who was in Yemen in 2009.

In New York, the Pakistani-American man who pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt told interrogators he was "inspired" by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet.