US Citizen First on CIA Target List

The Obama administration has authorized the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen believed to be hiding in Yemen and thought to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the US to participating in them, according to published reports, The Huffington Post reports, citing AP.

American counterterrorism officials say they believe al-Awlaki has become a recruiter for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist network, feeding prospects into plots aimed at the US and at Americans abroad, the officials told The New York Times in a report posted online late Tuesday.

It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials told the newspaper. A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush said he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president.

Al-Awlaki, 38, recently was added to the CIA target list after a special government review of his activities, prompted by his status as a US citizen, US officials told the Los Angeles Times. He is to be captured or killed, the newspaper said.