U.S. confirms killing of U.S.-born radical cleric in Yemen

A senior Obama administration official has confirmed that Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born radical cleric, was killed in Yemen, media reports said here on Friday. The official confirmed that al-Awlaki was killed in an attack on his convoy by a U.S. drone and jet fighter, according to the media reports. The attack was carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command, in which the CIA provided the intelligence and the latter provided the firepower, said the reports. The 40-year al-Awlaki, born in the U.S. state of New Mexico to a pair of Yemeni parents, was accused of "inspiring" the killings of 13 people in a U.S. military base in Texas in November 2009, as well as the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner in December 2009. Yemen's Defense Ministry said earlier in the day that al-Awlaki was killed in an air raid in the southeast of the country. U.S. President Barack Obama was expected to speak about the killing of al-Awlaki at around 11 am Eastern Standard Time (GMT 1600), reports said on Friday.