October 09, 2011 "AP" -- CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The U.S. State Department has offered the government's condolences to a North Carolina family whose son became an al-Qaida propagandist and was killed in a drone attack in Yemen, The Charlotte Observer reported Saturday.
The call came Thursday, nearly a week after 25-year-old Samir Khan was killed along with cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, "a leader of al-Qaida" in the Arabian Peninsula, the newspaper reported. Both men were American citizens.
Khan wrote a radical blog while living in Charlotte, then left to join al-Qaida and produce its English-language online magazine. U.S. officials said al-Awlaki was the target of the drone attack and Khan was collateral damage.
A State Department official called Khan's father, Zafar, a day after the family released a statement condemning Khan's extra-judicial "assassination," family spokesman Jibril Hough said. The family's statement said they were "appalled by the indifference shown to us by our government." They said they wanted the government to explain why Khan was not afforded due process and to discuss collecting his remains.
State Department spokesman Harry Edwards confirmed the call to Khan's family but declined to offer details citing "privacy issues."
"They were very apologetic (for not calling the family sooner) and offered condolences," Jibril Hough said. Hough said the conversation lasted a few minutes.
"It wasn't just `I'm sorry' and hang-up," Hough said. The phone call included no discussion of the status or condition of Khan's remains, he said.
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