Fort Hood probe spotlights web-savvy preacher

A radical Muslim preacher linked by US intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a US Army base is an influential voice in English-language internet forums increasingly used by militants unfamiliar with Arabic.

Anwar al-Awlaki, has spent years publishing anti-US views sympathetic to to his English-language followers on the internet, using blogs, video and audio lectures, a social networking site and lengthy articles.

While not a household name in the Arab world, Mr Awlaki, in his 30s, has a following in the West, where governments suspect views like his may help to radicalise potential militants who do not understand Arabic, the main language of al Qaeda missives.