Only Osama bin Laden could claim a role in more terrorist attacks than Anwar al-Awlaki.
The fiery US-born cleric — who was once just the ugly public face of anti-Americanism — became a chief recruiter, planner and eventually “chief of external operations” for al Qaeda’s bloodiest affiliate.
Awlaki was linked to four US attacks, including the most horrific attack of all, 9/11. He preached to at least two of the hijackers as an imam in Virginia and California.
Awlaki was grilled by US investigators at least four times following the attacks on the World Trade Center but was allowed to leave the US in 2002.
His possible role in 9/11 has never been established.
But his bloodstained fingerprints were found on several other attacks, beginning with the Fort Hood massacre on Nov. 5, 2009.
Awlaki exchanged more than 18 e-mails with the shooting suspect, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, over a six-month period — then laughed about the failure of US intelligence to stop Hasan from killing 13 people.
Awlaki later denied that he encouraged Hasan but called his murderous spree “a heroic action.”
A month later, while military investigators were trying to find out what had gone wrong, an Awlaki follower struck again, on Christmas Day 2009.
Awlaki recruited and trained a 23-year-old Nigerian, “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in a plot to detonate plastic explosives at the end of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, US officials said.
Among the instructions Awlaki gave him was not to try to ignite the bomb materials until he was over US airspace. Abdulmutallab followed orders, but the explosives fizzled after a small fire, and he was subdued by a passenger.
Awlaki could have scored his greatest triumph five months later in Times Square.
Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old Pakistani-American, told investigators he had been “inspired” by Awlaki and in contact with him via the Internet before May 1, 2010 — when he tried to tried to kill passers-by with explosives in an SUV. Two street vendors alerted a police officer, and cops foiled the attack.
Awlaki’s last major plot unfolded less than a year ago. Packages addressed to Chicago synagogues — and containing nearly a pound of plastic explosives and a detonation mechanism — were sent from Yemen on two cargo planes.
But on Oct. 29, 2010, the plot was uncovered and the packages intercepted in Dubai and England.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — the organization Awlaki then served as “regional commander” — claimed responsibility for the scheme, and US investigators concluded Awlaki oversaw the operation.
Terror plots Awlaki has been linked to
9/11 WTC Attack
Anwar al-Awlaki, then an imam in Virginia and California, was spiritual adviser to 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.
Fort Hood
Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan asked Yemen-based Awlaki for advice about killing US servicemen in several e-mails before Hasan gunned down 13 people on a Texas army base in 2009.
Underwear bomber
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallub was recruited and trained by Awlaki in a botched plot to detonate explosives in a jet over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
Times Square
Faisal Shahzad said he was “inspired” by and in Internet contact with Awlaki before he tried to detonate an explosives-packed SUV in Times Square in May 2010.