Posted on 10/30/2003 10:03:12 PM PST by Pro-Bush
US25m bounty on al-Qaeda leader
From correspondents in Washington October 31, 2003
THE United States today offered up to $US25 million for clues leading to the arrest of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, linked to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and said to be recruiting fighters in Iraq.
The bounty is one of the highest ever offered under the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program and matches that offered for bin Laden himself and ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, officials said.
The reward was announced without comment when information about it was posted to the program's website (www.rewardsforjustice.net) which is run in coordination with the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
"Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has had a long-standing connection to senior al-Qaeda leadership and appears to be highly regarded among al-Qaeda and a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Saif al-Adel," the announcement said.
Al-Adel, for whom there is also a $US25 million reward, is thought to be bin Laden's number-three and was reportedly in Iran.
The Zarqawi announcement appeared on what is believed to be his 38th birthday. It gave no details except a brief physical description and included three photographs.
US officials say that Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian fugitive also known as Fadel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, provided financial and other support to those who assassinated US diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman last October.
The one-legged Zarqawi has also been accused by Jordan of plotting the murder of Foley, 62, who was gunned down outside his home in Amman on October 28, 2002.
Zarqawi and his own German-based al-Tawhid group, which Washington says has close ties to al-Qaeda, are said to have found refuge in Iraq under Saddam.
He is thought still to be at large in Iraq, where his mission to form a new network of fighters is still in its beginning stages, US and Arab intelligence sources have said.
The "Rewards for Justice" program offers cash for information leading to the capture of wanted terrorists, indicted war criminals and others.
Earlier this year Secretary of State Colin Powell authorised the payment of the highest single reward under the program, $US30 million, to the Iraqi informant who tipped off the US military on the hiding place of Saddam's two sons Uday and Qusay.
Up to $US15 million had been offered for each of the brothers, who were killed in a firefight with US forces in July.
Agence France-Presse
How about offering some American mercenaries a harem of virgins along with the $25 mil.......... in this life. Although with $25 mil, one can buy one's own harem.
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