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The听U.S. government听formally acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that it had killed four Americans, including militant cleric听Anwar al-Awlaki, who died in drone听strikes in听Yemen听and听Pakistan.

Attorney General听Eric Holder听named the dead U.S. citizens in a letter to members of听Congress听a day before President Barack Obama is expected to promise more transparency on national security issues in a speech on counterterrorism.

A听White House听official said Obama would lay out in his speech why the use of drones is "necessary, legal and just."

His speech would coincide with the signing of new presidential policy guidance setting out standards for U.S. drone听strikes, the official said.

Reuters reported earlier this week that the administration had decided to give the听Pentagon听control of some drone听operations that are now run by the CIA. Such a move would put the use of unmanned aerial vehicles under greater congressional oversight.

In his letter to members of听Congress, Holder confirmed that the听United States听had "specifically targeted and killed" New Mexico-born Awlaki in听Yemen听in 2011.

He said the other three Americans who were killed, but not deliberately targeted, were Awlaki's teenage son听Abdulrahman,听Samir Khan, an American of Pakistani origin who died in听Yemen, and听Jude Kenan Mohammed听from听North Carolina, who was indicted on U.S. terrorism charges in 2009 and was killed in听Pakistan.

U.S. officials had previously acknowledged privately that the two Awlakis and Khan had been killed in drone听strikes. Mohammed's death was also in a drone听strike, a source familiar with the matter said.

Holder's letter offered a detailed justification for the CIA'S killing of Awlaki, who Holder said had "repeatedly made clear his intent to attack U.S. persons and his hope that these attacks would take American lives."

The killing of Awlaki, 40, was the first, and only, publicly known case in which a U.S. citizen was deliberately targeted for killing by drone听strike.

Holder offered considerable new detail on the government's rationale for adding the U.S.-born preacher's name to a kill list that previously had been exclusively reserved for non-U.S. citizens.

"Based on generations-old legal principles and听Supreme Court听decisions handed down during World War II, as well as during the current conflict, it is clear and logical that听United States听citizenship alone does not make such individuals immune from being targeted," Holder said.

Obama is under pressure from a series of scandals which critics say shows his administration is secretive and weak on protecting civil liberties.

The听Internal Revenue Service听official at the center of a scandal about extra tax scrutiny of conservative groups told听Congress听on Wednesday she had done nothing wrong but invoked her constitutional right not to answer questions.听

Holder said the听White House听wanted counterterrorism efforts to "become more transparent to the American people and to the world."

Awlaki's killing was approved by a senior committee of Obama administration officials. The president himself did not have to approve adding Awlaki's name to the target list, officials said at the time, but he would have been notified of the senior officials' decision. If Obama had objected, the decision would have been nullified.

(Reporting by David Ingram and Mark Hosenball.; Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)