Relief, anger at mosque where al-Awlaki preached

[rug]

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
Posted: 09/30/2011 10:43:01 AM MDT

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—At the Washington-area mosque where Anwar al-Awlaki preached a decade ago, there were few tears over the death of the influential al-Qaida figure who more than anyone gave the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center its unwanted association with international terrorism. But some found the way he was killed to be un-American.

Most worshippers at Dar al-Hijrah for Friday services said they were glad that al-Awlaki was gone—that he besmirched not only their mosque but all of Islam by calling for the deaths of innocent Americans. Others rejected both al-Awlaki's calls for violence against Americans and the U.S. airstrike that killed him in Yemen early Friday, saying he hadn't even been charged with a crime. And a small few were unrepentant in their support of al-Awlaki, though most were unwilling have their names attached to their views.

"I like justice to be done the normal way," said Tarik Diap. "If you're guilty of doing something, you have the law, you have courts. This is, for me, you're killing someone without proving innocence or guilt."

Hassan Mohamed, 62, said no allegations against al-Awlaki had been proven.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/nationworld/ci_19012460