US contacts NC family of al-Qaida propagandist

[struggle4progress]

Updated at 04:45 PM today
AP

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The U.S. State Department has offered the government's condolences to a North Carolina family whose son became an al-Qaida propagandist and was killed in a drone attack in Yemen, The Charlotte Observer reported Saturday.

The call came Thursday, nearly a week after 25-year-old Samir Khan was killed along with cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the newspaper reported. Both men were American citizens.

Khan wrote a radical blog while living in Charlotte, then left to join al-Qaida and produce its English-language online magazine. U.S. officials said al-Awlaki was the target of the drone attack and Khan was collateral damage.

A State Department official called Khan's father, Zafar, a day after the family released a statement condemning Khan's extra-judicial "assassination," family spokesman Jibril Hough said. The family's statement said they were "appalled by the indifference shown to us by our government." They said they wanted the government to explain why Khan was not afforded due process and to discuss collecting his remains ...

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8384406

[madrchsod]

1. well our government finally offered our condolences...

collateral damage