A New York court has released the Obama administration’s legal justification for the killing of a US citizen and suspected al-Qaeda leader in Yemen.
The previously secret justice department memo was published after a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times.
Anwar al Awlaki was killed by a US drone attack in Yemen in 2011.
Critics have said Awlaki was killed without being given his right to legal due process as an American citizen.
The memo argues the killing was legal because he was an “operational leader” of an “enemy force” at war with the US.
Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU lawyer who argued the case, said the memo’s release “represents an overdue but nonetheless crucial step towards transparency”.
“There are few questions more important than the question of when the government has the authority to kill its own citizens.”
The document, still partially redacted, also says the killing of Awlaki by US military forces would be legal under an authorisation for the use of US force after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC.
It is dated July 2010, more than a year before Awlaki was killed.
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