(Update: The U.S. airstrike that rained Hellfire missiles on al-Awlaki was run by the U.S. military's elite counterterrorism unit, the Joint Special Operations Command, the same unit that got bin Laden, the AP reported.

Friday's successful kill was the result of counterterrorism cooperation between Yemen and the U.S. that has dramatically increased in recent weeks, even as Yemen has plunged deeper into turmoil as protesters try to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh, U.S. officials said.

Apparently trying to cling to power by holding his American allies closer, Saleh has opened the taps in cooperation against al-Qaida. U.S. officials said the Yemenis also have allowed the U.S.