Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki 'killed in Yemen'

The US-born radical Islamist cleric and suspected al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen, the country's defence ministry has said.

A statement said only that he died "along with some of his companions". Mr Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, has been on the run in Yemen since December 2007. The US has named him a "specially designated global terrorist" for his alleged role in a number of attacks and he is said to be on a CIA hit list. He is described by US officials as leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

He has been implicated in the US army base killings in Fort Hood, Texas, the Christmas 2009 Detroit airline bomb attempt, and a failed bombing in New York's Times Square. When he was imam of a San Diego mosque in the 1990s, his sermons were attended by two future 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

In a video posted in November last year he called for the killing of Americans, saying they were from the "party of devils".