Nasser al-Awlaki

Nasser al-Awlaki (Arabic: ناصر العولقي‎) is a Yemeni scholar and politician. He is the father of Anwar and grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who were killed in separate U.S. drone strikes. Nasser is also the grandfather of Nawar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. raid in Yemen in 2017, the Raid on Yakla.[1]

Nasser al-Awlaki
Born1940s
Yemen
CitizenshipYemeni
OccupationPolitician, scholar
Known forFormer agriculture minister of Yemen, former president of Sana'a University, father of Anwar al-Awlaki, grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, grandfather of Nawar al-Awlaki
ChildrenAnwar al-Awlaki

After the deaths of his son and grandson, Nasser published a six-minute audio message condemning the U.S. for the killings.[2] In the audio, he said of then-President Barack Obama:

I urge the American people to bring the killers to justice. I urge them to expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.

— q.v. TIME, CNN[3][4]

Al-Awlaki claimed his son Anwar was far from any battlefield.[2] In 2010, al-Awlaki also said he believed Anwar been wrongly accused and had not been a member of al-Qaeda.[5]

On 29 January 2017, Nawar al-Awlaki, Nasser's 8-year-old granddaughter, was the third member of his family to be killed by the U.S. The girl was among several civilians killed in the Yakla raid, the first covert operation ordered by President Donald Trump. Nasser said that “She was hit with a bullet in her neck and suffered for two hours,” “Why kill children? This is the new (U.S.) administration - it’s very sad, a big crime.”[1][6]

Nasser al-Awlaki's son Anwar was a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico in 1971 while Nasser was earning his Master's degree in agricultural economics at New Mexico State University.[7]

A Fulbright Scholar, Nasser received a doctorate at the University of Nebraska. He subsequently worked at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977.[8][9]

Nasser was a prominent member of then-Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party. He served as Agriculture Minister and President of Sana'a University.[8][9][10][11]

References
  1. "Navy SEAL, 8-year-old American girl died in Yemen raid". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  2. "Nasser Al-Awlaki Blasts U.S. For Killing of Son and Grandson via @intelwire". News.intelwire.com. December 2, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  3. "An American Teenager in Yemen: Paying for the Sins of His Father?". Time. October 27, 2011.
  4. "Official: Drone attack kills Al-Awlaki's son in Yemen". CNN. October 15, 2011. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  5. Newton, Paula (11 January 2010). "Al-Awlaki's father says son is 'not Osama bin Laden'". CNN. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  6. Stewart, Mohammed Ghobari and Phil. "Commando dies in U.S. raid in Yemen, first military op OK'd by Trump". Reuters UK. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  7. Warren Richey (August 31, 2010). "Anwar al-Awlaki: ACLU wants militant cleric taken off US 'kill list'". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on October 22, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  8. Sharpe, Tom (November 14, 2009). "Radical imam traces roots to New Mexico; Militant Islam cleric's father graduated from NMSU". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  9. Raghavan, Sudarsan (December 10, 2009). "Cleric linked to Fort Hood attack grew more radicalized in Yemen". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  10. Shane, Scott (November 18, 2009). "Born in U.S., a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  11. Holmes, Oliver (November 5, 2009). "Why Yemen Hasn't Arrested Terrorist Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki". TIME. Archived from the original on November 12, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
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