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| Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi |
The U.S. Government has put a 25 million dollars offer on so-called
Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an increase from the initial
10 million dollars.
The U.S. Government announced the new reward in a statement issued by the Department of State.
“The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program is
increasing to 25 million dollars its reward offer for information
leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also known as
Ibrahim ‘Awwad Ibrahim ‘Ali al-Badri, also known as Abu Du’a.
“This represents a significant increase from the previous reward offer of 10 million dollars announced in October 2011.”
The statement said in recent years, ISIL has gained the allegiance of
jihadist groups and radicalised individuals around the world, and has
inspired attacks in the U.S.
“Under Al-Baghdadi, ISIL has been responsible for the deaths of
thousands of civilians in the Middle East, including the brutal murder
of numerous civilian hostages from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the
United States.
“The group also has conducted chemical weapons attacks in Iraq and
Syria in defiance of the longstanding global norm against the use of
these appalling weapons, and has enabled or directed terrorist attacks
beyond the borders of its self-declared caliphate.”
In June 2014, ISIL, also known as Da’esh, seized control of portions
of Syria and Iraq, self-declared a so-called Islamic caliphate, and
named al-Baghdadi as caliph.
In 2011, the Department of State designated Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.
Al-Baghdadi was also added to the UN Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions Committee in 2011.
Al-Baghdadi was the leader of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI), which subsequently morphed into ISIL.
“We encourage anyone with information about al-Baghdadi to contact
the Rewards for Justice office via e-mail (no2daesh@rewards4justice.co),
by phone (1-800-877-3927 in North America), or by mail (Rewards for
Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA).
“All information will be kept strictly confidential,” the statement read.
The Rewards for Justice Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of 125
million dollars to more than 80 people who provided actionable
information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of
international terrorism worldwide.
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