Awlaqi hit misses al-Qaeda bombmaker, Yemen says

Awlaqi’s relatives declined requests for interviews Friday. In a text message, his brother Amar wrote, “Let us grieve please.” Members of his tribe in Shabwa expressed anger at the Yemeni government for cooperating with the United States in hunting down Awlaqi.

Since the Fort Hood shootings, the United States has pressured Yemeni authorities to capture Awlaqi. But those efforts largely failed because of the government’s limited resources and lack of authority in Yemen’s south. And as Yemen’s populist uprising gathered momentum, weakening Saleh’s grip and ushering in a widening political crisis, Yemeni officials said earlier this year that finding Awlaqi had become even less of a priority.

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The Washington Post's Africa bureau chief, Sudarsan Raghavan, reports from Yemen about what Anwar al-Awlaqi's death means for the Yemens and for the long-term U.S.-Yemen relationship. (Audio)

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The Obama administration has been urging Saleh to accept a speedy transfer of power, which the president has defiantly resisted.

Senior Yemeni officials on Friday declared the attack a success in Yemen’s campaign against al-Qaeda.

“The Americans are now going to reach an understanding that Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime is serious about fighting terrorism,” said Janadi, the deputy information minister.

Janadi said he was disappointed by comments by the U.S. State Department on Friday that Awlaqi’s death would not change U.S. demands for Saleh to step aside.

Opposition leaders expressed concern Friday that Awlaqi’s death could boost American support for Saleh, allowing him to remain in power longer.

Mohammed Qahtan, a top opposition official, predicted Saleh would try “very hard to use Awlaqi’s death to blackmail the Americans” into giving him more support.

Said Obaid, a Yemeni political analyst who wrote a book about al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch, said Awlaqi’s death is unlikely to weaken AQAP because Awlaqi will be depicted as a martyr. Despite Friday’s strike, the group’s top leaders, Nasser al-Wuhayshi and Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, are still at large. It remains to be seen whether they or others inside AQAP can fill Awlaqi’s role as a recruiter and propaganda czar, although they now have fresh material to work with.

“Al-Qaeda is going to use his death to perform many more operations, especially since he was killed by an American airstrike,” Obaid said. “Al-Qaeda is known for using such incidents to its advantage.”

Staff writers William Branigin, Greg Miller, Karen DeYoung, William Wan, Michelle Boorstein, Greg Jaffe, Aaron C. Davis and Kafia Hosh in Washington and special correspondent Mohammed al-Qadhi in Sanaa contributed to this report.