Washington: The US has offered a USD 10 million reward for information leading to the conviction and arrest of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of the "caliphate" on Iraq and Syrian territory.
The award on al-Baghdadi has been since 2011. "Since October 2011 the Rewards for Justice programme has advertised on its web site a reward offer of up to USD 10 million for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," the State Department said.
Militants from ISIL, which is led by al-Baghdadi, have overrun swathes of territories in northern and western Iraq since early June.
According to the State Department, al-Baghdadi, also known as Abu Dua, has taken personal credit for a series of terrorist attacks in Iraq since 2011 and claimed credit for the June 2013 operations against the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, the March 2013 suicide bombing assault on the Ministry of Justice, among other attacks against Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi citizens going about their daily lives.
