The CutlineAmerican publisher of al-Qaida magazine killed in CIA drone attack on Awlaki
The CIA drone attack that killed al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen Friday also killed Samir Khan, the Saudi-born American publisher of an al-Qaida propaganda magazine, U.S. intelligence officials said.
Khan, a 25-year-old born in Saudi Arabia but raised in Queens, New York, was the publisher of Inspire, an English-language al-Qaida propaganda publication launched in 2010. The news of his death was first reported by ABC, which described Khan as "a rising figure in jihadist propaganda and an 'aspiring' Awlaki, according to U.S. intelligence officials."
More from Yahoo! senior foreign affairs reporter Laura Rozen:
The magazine had shown glimmers of his apparent New York sensibilities in some respects. In an article this week, for example, the publication slammed Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for floating conspiracy theories denying al-Qaida's culpability in the 9/11 terror attacks. An earlier issue this summer had featured a full page ad mocking former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) for his short-lived and doomed efforts to claim his sexting Twitter account had been hacked.
Khan edited seven issues of Inspire since it launched publication last year, ABC News reported.
Last spring, British spooks were reported to have taken credit for hacking Inspire magazine and replacing one planned article entitled "How To Build A Bomb In the Kitchen of Your Mom" with a recipe for miniature cupcakes featured on the Ellen DeGeneres show.
