US offers $10m reward for Iran based al Qaeda operative

Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, a Syrian operat­ing from Iran, has been listed as a "terror financ­ier"

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a key al Qaeda fundraiser, who is said to be a Syrian operating from Iran.

The reward for Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil marks the first time that a "terrorist financier" has been targeted in such a way, said Robert Hartung, assistant director for threat investigations with the State Department.

According to US officials, the man also known as Yacine al-Suri was born in Syria in 1982.

He was put on a US Treasury Department blacklist in July when he was described as a high-level al Qaeda figure operating out of Iran. His role, according to US officials, was to transfer funds and to recruit militants from the Middle East who transited via Iran to al Qaeda in Pakistan.

The $10 million was posted as part of the program "Rewards for Justice," set up in the 1980s, with the aim of hunting down suspects wanted for terror acts against the United States.

The current head of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has the highest bounty on his head of $25 million.