Drone Targets Yemeni Cleric

Reuters
By MARGARET COKER, ADAM ENTOUS and JULIAN E. BARNES
WSJ

The U.S. launched a drone strike in Yemen on Thursday aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks in the U.S, but he evaded the missile, Yemeni and U.S. officials said.

The attack came days after a U.S. Navy SEALs team killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Had Thursday's strike succeeded, the U.S. would have killed two of the most-wanted terrorists in a week.

Mr. Awlaki has emerged as a leading charismatic front-man of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group the U.S. considers the world's most active terror organization. With bin Laden's death, some officials believe Mr. Awlaki and the Yemen-based group now represent the gravest threat to the U.S.

He has been linked to at least three major incidents: the Ft. Hood shootings, the Christmas 2009 plot to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger plane and a plan to blow up cargo planes.