Al-Awlaki's former mosque in Va. reacts to death

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Worshippers at the northern Virginia mosque where Anwar al-Awlaki once served as imam have mixed reactions to news that he was killed in an air strike by U.S. forces.

After his time at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center, al-Awlaki moved to Yemen and become one of the world's most notorious terrorists. Many worshippers at the mosque said Friday that he besmirched their mosque and all of Islam by calling for the deaths of innocent Americans.

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Jouwad Syed says al-Awlaki's link to the mosque often got in the way of the center's outreach and charity work.

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Another person, Tarik Diap, expressed reservations about the fact al-Awlaki was killed without ever having been brought to trial.

The mosque said in a statement that al-Awlaki began preaching violence after being tortured in Yemen. The statement said al-Awlaki's death means he will no longer spread his hate speech, but the mosque said it was concerned about the use of a drone in the attack.

President Obama called the death of the jihadist cleric a "major blow" to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and praised the United States' successful alliance with Yemen's security forces.

"This is further proof that al Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world," Mr. Obama said in remarks at Fort Myer, Va. "Working with Yemen and our other allies and partners, we will be determined, we will be deliberate, we will be relentless, we will be resolute in our commitment to destroy terrorist networks that aim to kill Americans, and to build a world in which people everywhere can live in greater peace, prosperity and security."

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Al-Awlaki's death is the latest in a run of high-profile kills for Washington under Mr. Obama. But the killing raises questions that the death of other al Qaeda leaders, including bin Laden, did not.

Al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, who had not been charged with any crime. Civil liberties groups have questioned the government's authority to kill an American without trial.