Anwar al-Awlaki

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the Yemeni cleric who praised the Nov. 5 killings at Fort Hood, Anwar al-Awlaki. Here’s a local connection: The Santa Fe New Mexican reported this weekend that al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces while his father was attending New Mexico State University.

Anwar al-Awlaki’s father, Nasser al-Aulaqi, graduated from NMSU with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics in 1969 and 1971 before heading to Nebraska to earn a doctorate and Minnesota to work. In 1978, he returned to Yemen. He “returned to Las Cruces in 2002 to accept an award as NMSU’s distinguished international alumnus that year, according to a NMSU newsletter,” The New Mexican’s article states.

Al-Aulaqi’s son, al-Awlaki, returned to the United States in 1991 to attend college in Colorado, San Diego and Washington, D.C.

Anyway. Interesting connection. Read more from The New Mexican by clicking here.