Awlaqi killing authorized by secret US memo: report

A secret US Justice Department memo authorized the targeting of American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi who was killed in Yemen, The Washington Post reported Friday.

A former senior intelligence official told the newspaper that the CIA would not have killed a US citizen without the Justice Department's written opinion.

The memo was written after senior lawyers from President Barack Obama's administration reviewed the legal concerns about targeting a US national, the report said.

Other officials told the Post there was no dissent about the legality of killing Awlaqi, the first American citizen placed on the CIA's "kill or capture" list.

"What constitutes due process in this case is a due process in war," an administration official told the Post after Awlaqi died in a US drone strike conducted by the CIA and military assets under CIA control, the report said.

The White House has refused to confirm specific details about the operation.

An Obama administration official earlier said in a statement that "as a general matter, it would be entirely lawful for the United States to target high-level leaders of enemy forces, regardless of their nationality, who are plotting to kill Americans."

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, cited the authority of Congress "as well as established international law that recognizes our right of self-defense," to justify the targeting of US enemies.

Critics have asked that the Obama administration publicly state its legal standards for killing outside the United States any terror suspect who is an American citizen, saying the practice would otherwise amount to extrajudicial execution in violation of US and international law.

Another official told the Post that the CIA did not know that Samir Khan, a second American killed in the attack in Yemen, was with Awlaqi.