A radical Muslim preacher linked by US intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a US Army base is an influential voice in English-language Internet forums increasingly used by militants unfamiliar with Arabic.
Anwar al-Awlaki, has spent years publishing anti-U.S. views sympathetic to Al Qaeda to his English-language followers on the Internet, using blogs, video and audio lectures and lengthy articles.
While not a household name in the Arab world, Awlaki, in his 30s, has a following in the West, where governments suspect views like his may help to radicalize potential militants who do not understand Arabic, the main language of Al Qaeda missives.
US intelligence agencies learned that the gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had contacts with Awlaki late last year and they relayed that information to authorities before he went on the shooting spree on Thursday, US officials have said.
The spotlight on Awlaki, one of whose favorite themes is the minority status of Muslims in the West, intensified when a blog was posted on his website in his name praising the killings and calling Hasan "a hero."
Awlaki's website was closed down shortly afterwards.
Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, said Awlaki was one of several English-language preachers using new media to reach Web-savvy audiences in the West.
"This alternative media trend is gaining strength and is helping jihadis a lot," he said. "They are doing well in this field."
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