US money award for al-Qaida leaders in Iraq
Iraq-USA, Military, 7/4/2006

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has authorized the Rewards for Justice Program to offer up to $5 million to encourage individuals to come forward with information concerning the location of Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

The US said "Al-Masri is recognized as the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, which is responsible for the murder of Iraqi citizens and coalition force members in bombings, kidnappings, and other criminal acts. He replaced the group's former leader, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 coalition air strike."

The US said as an "Egyptian-born explosives expert, al-Masri is believed to have started his terrorist career in 1982 by joining the Islamic Jihad led by Ayman al-Zawarhiri, who now is second in command of the broader al-Qaida network. He is believed to have received training in 1999 and 2000 at al-Farouq, a major al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan."

The US Department Of State said "During a June 15 Baghdad press briefing, US Army Major General William Caldwell said that al-Masri entered Iraq in 2003 to become a senior commander of an organization associated with al-Qaida in Iraq that specialized in recruiting suicide bombers. He subsequently became a close adviser to Zarqawi and senior operational commander responsible for overseeing terrorist attacks across the country's southern provinces. Al-Masri, who also uses the alias Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, is believed to have been involved in building suicide bombs used by al-Qaida in Iraq to target the UN headquarters and Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. Al-Masri's bomb-making skills also are thought to be associated with a dozen explosions in Karbala and Baghdad in 2004 as well as attacks against Shiite religious pilgrims in 2004 and 2005."

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