Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program is increasing to $25 million 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 announced in October 2011.
Protecting the homeland and the American people is our top counterterrorism priority, and just as we have intensified our efforts against ISIL, we are increasing the means available to us to gain information on their leadership and bring them to justice.
(See this profile on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to learn more, courtesy of the BBC News and YouTube)
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 recent years, ISIL has gained the allegiance of jihadist groups and radicalized individuals around the world, and has inspired attacks in the United States.
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.
Al-Baghdadi has taken credit for numerous terrorist attacks in Iraq since 2011, killing thousands of his fellow Iraqi citizens.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
- Date of Birth: 1971
- Place of Birth: Samarra, Iraq
- Hair: Black
- Eyes: Brown
- Sex: Male
- Complexion: Olive
- Aliases: Dr. Ibrahim ‘Awwad Ibrahim ‘Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai’, Ibrahim ‘Awad Ibrahim al-Badri al Samarrai, Abu Duaa’, Dr. Ibrahim, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
The group also has launched terrorist attacks beyond the borders of its self-declared caliphate. In November 2015, two ISIL suicide bombings in Beirut left 43 dead and 239 wounded.
That same month, ISIL carried out seven coordinated attacks in Paris – killing at least 130 and injuring more than 350 others. In March 2016, ISIL terrorists killed at least 34 people in Brussels – including four U.S. citizens – and injured more than 270 others.
(Learn More, courtesy of ABC News and YouTube)
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 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 United Nations 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.
More information about al-Baghdadi is located on the Rewards for Justice website at www.rewardsforjustice.net.
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 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 to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide.
Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Rewards4Justice.
