US offers $5 million reward for information on key Isil chief

  19 November 2015    Read: 640
US offers $5 million reward for information on key Isil chief
Money offered for tips on where to find Abu Mohammed al-Shimali, leading figure in jihadist group`s foreign recruitment drive.
The United States on Wednesday offered a reward of up to US $5 million (£3.28 million) for information on the whereabouts of the alleged mastermind behind the drive to spirit foreign recruits from Europe and elsewhere to fight for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isil).

The US state department identified Abu-Muhammad al-Shimali, a 36-year-old Saudi citizen, as the mover and shaker in the jihadist group`s "immigration and logistics committee" that deals with foreign volunteers and said funds were available to pay for tip-offs that could help locate him.

Details of the offer were posted on the department`s Rewards for Justice wesbite, along with a picture of al-Shimali - who is also known as Tirad al-Jarba - sporting a beard and Islamic head-covering, and the number of his expired Saudi Arabian passport.
A state department official said the timing of the offer was unrelated to Isil`s devastating assault on Paris last Friday, which left 129 people dead.

"This is a very deliberative process," the official said. "The reward offer was not processed and approved in relation to any particular event, including the Paris attacks last week. It`s something that`s been in process for a while."

The money is an incentive for information rather than an inducement for bounty hunters to target al-Shimali, the official said, adding: "We do not encourage bounty hunting or anyone but government personnel to seek or apprehend these people. They are dangerous.

"We are looking for information on where he is. You never know where someone might show up. What we would most likely do if he shows up in a place where he can be found is notify the local law authorities and see what can be done."

Al-Shimali oversees the passage of foreign fighters from the Turkish city of Gaziantep into Syria and Iraq, according to the US, primarily through the Isil-held Syrian border town of Jarabulus.

Last year, he facilitated the travel of recruits from Europe, Australia and the Middle East and managed the Islamic State`s processing centre in Azaz in Syria.

He is also involved in coordinated smuggling from Europe, North Africa and the Arabian peninsula that included financial transfers and the movement of logistics.


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