US offers cash for information on al Qaeda's Masri

WASHINGTON, July 1: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday authorized a reward of up to 5 million dollar to anyone providing information leading to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, a senior al Qaeda leader in Iraq.

The Egyptian-born Masri is believed to be the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq who was killed in a US bombing raid earlier in June. The U.S. bounty for Zarqawi was 25 million dollar.

Masri trained in Afghanistan and formed al Qaeda's first cell in Baghdad, according to the US military. US officials describe him as an explosives expert trained in the construction of improvised bombs.

''We encourage anyone with information on al-Masri's location to contact the US Embassy in Baghdad, any US military commander in Iraq, any US embassy or consulate, or the Rewards for Justice staff,'' said Adam Ereli, a spokesman for the State Department.

Rice authorized the reward under the Reward for Justice program, which has paid more than 62 million dollar to more than 40 people who provided information that helped prevent acts of terrorism against the United States or led to the capture of suspected terrorists.

The payouts included 30 million dollar to people who gave tips that led to the killing of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, in 2003.

Reuters