The United States has offered up to $6 million in rewards for information about two senior al-Qaeda* terrorist group leaders, the State Department announced in a release.
“The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) Programme is offering a reward for information on two senior al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leaders”, the release said. “RFJ is offering up to $6 million for information leading to the identification or location of Sa’ad bin Atef al-Awlaki and up to $4 million for information leading to the identification or location of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi”.
The State Department said al-Awlaki is the emir of Yemen’s province of Shabwah and has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.
Al-Qosi, who joined the group’s Arabian Peninsula franchise in 2014, has been active in al-Qaeda for decades and for years worked directly for Osama bin Laden, the release said. The release said al-Qosi has encouraged lone-wolf attacks against the United States in online propaganda.
The State Department also noted that al-Qosi was a Guantanamo detainee after his capture in Pakistan in 2001. He was returned to Sudan in 2010 two years after pleading guilty to supporting al-Qaeda.
