How US gathers tips, info on wanted global terrorists

In this undated frame grab from video posted on a militant-leaning Web site, and provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, shows Abu Yahya al-Libi whose death was confirmed by al-Qaida chief Ayman Al-Zawahri in a video posted late Monday, Sept. 10, 2011. AP/SITE Intelligence Group

WASHINGTON—From the Philippine jungles to unruly areas of Pakistan and the deserts of Iraq, simple matchbooks and posters are proving an effective tool in the United States hunt for the world’s most wanted men.

Since its launch in 1984, the Rewards for Justice program run by the Diplomatic Security bureau of the US Department of State has paid out $125 million in rewards to 80 people for information leading to the capture of terrorists.

Pictures of the wanted men are printed on posters, matchbooks and pens along with messages in the local dialects asking for information and providing instructions on how to forward tips or ring a hotline.

More modern methods to pass the messages are also used, such as Twitter and Facebook, along with a dedicated website and mobile phone alerts.

On top of the program’s wanted list today is al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, with a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to his capture.

After Bin Laden

The Egyptian doctor, who took over as al-Qaida leader after US commandos shot Osama Bin Laden dead in May 2011, has been indicted for his role in the 1998 twin bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

He is one of 53 people the US is seeking to bring before the courts for terror attacks, and who now have a price on their heads.

“The genesis of this program actually came about as a result of the bombings of our embassy in Kuwait and of our facilities in Beirut,” Kurt Rice, acting assistant director for diplomatic security, told AFP.

“The government after that decided we had to look for another tool to try and get information and bring these people to justice,” he said.

Last month Alabama-born Omar Hamami, dubbed the rapping jihadist, became one of five Americans on the list, wanted for ties to the al-Qaida linked Shebab insurgents evading capture in Somalia.

Cold cases still good

The program is also still seeking information on cases in which the trail appears to have gone cold, including the 1983 attack on the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Despite the dangers, the rewards can be tantalizingly huge in impoverished countries.

One informant received $30 million for leading the US to Uday and Qusay Hussein, the sons of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Thanks to the tip, the two were tracked down in July 2003 by a secretive special operations task force sent in to capture them in northern Mosul. A four-hour fire fight ensued, in which both men were killed.

Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the 1993 bomber of the World Trade Center, was caught after someone picked up a matchbook bearing his picture in Pakistan and tipped off the US embassy in Islamabad.

Yousef, nephew of the self-confessed architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was arrested by Pakistani forces in 1995 and extradited to the United States. He was tried and sentenced to two life sentences.

“This program is fairly simple, it’s fairly elegant, it saves lives,” said Rice. “All we are trying to do is give people an outlet, because people intrinsically often just want to help.

He stressed that confidentiality was key to protecting the identities of the informants. “We’ve given this money out, and that obviously makes them a target wherever they are in the world,” he said.

The size of the reward depends on how critical the information is to the wanted person’s capture and is determined by an interagency committee which then recommends an amount to the secretary of state.

Filipinos got $5M

A group of Filipinos in 2007 shared in a $5-million reward for helping to find one of the ranking leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, Khadaffy Janjalani, and then identify his body after he was killed in a shoot-out with Philippine forces.

And while the Diplomatic Security bureau cannot provide physical protection for informants, it has helped relocate some of them to safer places, including the United States.

Since 2001, the program has also focused on prevention as well as on tracking down those already accused of terrorist acts.

“We would rather save lives than solve crimes. Of course solving the crimes is critical to us, but if we can stop them, if we can prevent them, that’s fantastic,” Rice said.