Adam Yahiye Gadahn appeared in a number of Al Qaeda videos (image via Wikileaks and Sott.net)
Al Qaeda have confirmed the killing of Adam Yahiye Gadahn in a US drone strike in January 2015 which targeted a militant compound in Pakistan. As-Sahab media stated his “martyrdom” in the latest copy of Resurgence which includes his biography. Gadahn, who was also known as Azzam al-Amriki was a US citizen from Winchester, California born in 1978, see link to magazine for announcement of his death.
As-Sahab Media Presents
مؤسسة السحاب للإنتاج الإعلامي
presents
تقدم
Issue 2 of the magazine
العدد الـ 2 من مجلة
Resurgence (إنبعاث)
Gadahn who had a number of aliases was once known as Adam Pearlman and enjoyed heavy metal music before reverting to Islam age 17. According to ABC,
“Gadahn was recruited by Egyptian Hisham Diab, who ran one of the first al Qaeda support cells out of his apartment complex in Orange County. They met at a local mosque. Gadahn eventually left California for Karachi, Pakistan, where his parents last heard from him in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks”
See link for background history,
“Al Qaeda Spokesman Adam Gadahn Was Once American Adam Pearlman”
Gadahn who appeared in a number of Al Qaeda videos was not specifically targeted in the drone strike.
Different faces of Gadahn (Image via livesscience.com)
The National Counterterrorism Centre (US) had earlier stated that Adam Yahiye Gadahn “was indicted in the Central District of California for treason and material support to al-Qa‘ida. The charges are related to Gadahn’s alleged involvement in a number of terrorist activities, including providing aid and comfort to al-Qa‘ida and services for al-Qa‘ida.” He had a up to a $1 million reward on his head.
Links
“Azzam the American: The making of an Al Qaeda homegrown”
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/01/22/azzam-the-american
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 