Top 10 Rewards for Terrorists

  • $25 million: Osama bin-Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, the militant Islamist organization that was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. Bin-Laden was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 by an American Special Forces unit in an operation ordered by President Obama.
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  • $25 million: Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman al-Zawahiri has led al-Qaeda since bin-Laden’s death in 2011 and is currently the most-wanted terrorist on the FBI’s list. Prior to assuming leadership of the organization, al-Zawahiri was the second-in-command, considered both the ideological and operational leader of the group.
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  • $25 million: Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi (removed) Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi was the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and was responsible for numerous hostage executions and suicide bombings, including the first major attack in 2003 that destroyed the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Al-Zarqawi was killed in an American airstrike near Baghdad in 2006.
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  • $25 million: Saddam Hussein (removed) Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq from 1979-2003. The U.S. and the U.K. invaded Iraq in 2003 and deposed him on suspicions of ties to al-Qaeda. He was tried and convicted in 2006 of charges related to the 1982 killings of 148 Iraqi Shi’ites. He was sentenced to death, and hung in Dec. 2006.
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  • $15 million: Uday Hussein (removed) Uday Hussein was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein, but was too violent and erratic even for his father. Because of his brutal, psychopathic behavior, Uday was denied much real state power. Uday was killed by a U.S. Task Force in Mosul in 2003.
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  • $15 million: Qusay Hussein (removed) Qusay Hussein was Saddam Hussein’s second son, and believed to be the chosen successor for his father. Qusay lead Iraq’s intelligence and security services and was also involved in the weapons program. Qusay was killed in the same 2003 raid that killed his brother Uday.
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  • $10 million: Abu Du'a a.k.a. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Du’a is the leader of the militant Islamist group ISIS. ISIS is considered too extreme even by al-Qaeda, which disavowed the group in 2014. Recently, ISIS has seized Mosul and other major Iraqi cities, threatening the country’s security and sparking global panic.
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  • $10 million: Hafiz Saeed Hafiz Saeed is the amir of Jama’at-ud-Da’wah, a terrorist organization operating out of Pakistan, and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the organization responsible for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that lasted four days and resulted in 174 casualties. Saeed resides in Lahore, Pakistan.
    Anjum Naveed—AP
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  • $10 million: Mullah Omar Mullah Mohammed Omar is the spiritual leader of the Taliban. He led Afghanistan as the Head of the Supreme Council of Afghanistan from 1996-2001, and is wanted by the U.S. for sheltering Osama bin-Laden and other al-Qaeda militants leading up to the attacks on September 11, 2001.
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  • $10 million: Yasin al-Suri Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, commonly known as Yasin al-Suri, is a senior al-Qaeda facilitator who moves al-Qaeda recruits from the Gulf into Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is also a key fundraiser for the organization. Al-Suri bases his operations out of Iran.
    U.S. Department of State
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By Tessa Berenson

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a group of Sunni extremists causing global panic as it seizes major Iraqi cities or small towns in the north with its sights set on Baghdad, is headed by a man who has spent years with a $10 million bounty over his head, from the United States. The Rewards for Justice Program, administered by the State Department, offers compensation for information leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone who either attempts, commits or even plans an act of terrorism against American people or property. Established in 1984, the program has nabbed half of the top 10 bounties ever offered. Here is the list.

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Write to Tessa Berenson at tessa.Rogers@time.com.

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