(MintPress)—The United States’ bounty list grew to 44 after the addition of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, considered the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed nearly 200 people and injured close to 400. The $10 million bounty announcement raises the U.S. total bounty offerings to $222 million.
Saeed announced in a press conference Wednesday near the Pakistani Army’s General Headquarters that he was willing to inform the United States of his whereabouts, saying he would then collect the $10 million offered through the Rewards for Justice (RFP) program.
In response to Saeed’s public mocking of the U.S. bounty, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said the bounty is not intended for information leading to Saeed’s capture. Instead, Toner said the U.S. seeks to obtain information that would lead to his arrest and conviction for the Mumbai bombings.
Bounties offered by the US
Saeed’s case is different than those of the U.S. government’s 44 other most wanted terrorists in the sense that he’s not exactly hiding — and his crime, considered one of the most well organized terrorist plot, was carried out more than three years ago.
The scope of planning behind the Mumbai bombings indicated it was carried out by a well organized terrorist organization. Attackers arrived by sea and began strategically attacking various units of Indian society, starting with the central police station — a move that was sure to disrupt law enforcement’s ability to swiftly respond to the next rounds of strikes.
While the Indian Mujahideen first claimed responsibility for the attacks, it was widely concluded that Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the efforts. Saeed, the leader of the organization, was arrested following the attacks and put on house arrest by the Pakistani government, but was released due to insufficient evidence.
Despite the delay in Saeed’s bounty, the U.S. placed a high price tag on the suspected terrorist. Saeed joins three other suspected terrorists with $10 million U.S. bounties, one of whom is Mullah Omar, wanted by the U.S. for providing shelter for Osama bin Laden. Jamal Mohammad al-Badawi, the man accused of killing 17 American sailors, has only a $5 million bounty on his head. That’s the average reward offered for suspected terrorists through the bounty program, which currently includes of total of $222 million in potential bounty allocation funds.
Origin and impact of Rewards for Justice Program
While it seems fitting for the RFJ Program to be monitored through the Department of Homeland Security, it falls under the umbrella of the State Department, which is set to receive a total of $43.4 billion under President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget proposal.
Set up in 1984 under the Act to Combat International Terrorism, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the program gives authority to the Secretary of State — now Hillary Clinton — to set rewards leading to the arrest and conviction of those suspected by the United States of terrorism or war crimes.
In 2001, under the Patriot Act, changes were made to the program, allowing for rewards of more than $5 million.
According to the government’s website, the program has paid out $100 million since its inception 27 years ago, with 70 informants receiving funds, which equates to an average payout of $1.4 million per informant.
Specifics regarding payouts are not typically made public by the program. However, RFJ has on occasion broken its silence in high-profile cases it wants to communicate as successes. In July, 2003, it was announced that $30 million was paid out after Qusay and Uday Hussein, sons of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, were killed by U.S. forces in Iraq.
Funding behind the RJF is complicated by a charitable fund — the Rewards for Justice Fund — set up in 2001 to partially fund the program. While it’s not clear how much the fund donated throughout its existence, tax forms from the last three years show expenses that include donations made to the State Department and costs associated with consulting.
The fund was created by two businessmen, including the founder of priceline.com, who approached the government with the idea in the days after 9-11. The fund collected private donations, but also set up a license plate fundraiser program. Citizens in six states could purchase special license plates for a $50 registration fee and $10 annual fee.
The fund was disbanded in August 2008. The nonprofits tax documents show the fund donated $125,000 to the Department of State in 2007, with $47,000 spent on insurance, consulting and “other expenses.”
It’s not clear why the fund dismantled, but tax forms do show dwindling fundraising efforts, likely due to the time lapse from its inception following the 9-11 attacks.
Problems with bounties
While the U.S. considers the RFJ program a necessary tool for success, the model draws criticism as a system that pays informants for false information. The bounty tactics came under fire in the wake of 9-11, when prisoners in Guantanamo Bay claimed they were sold to America for a price.
A 2005 report by the Associated Press revealed many who had been placed in Guantanamo Bay claimed they were sold to the United States by those who were on the receiving end of bounties.
Although transcripts from tribunals did not show names of defendants, the AP revealed the case of an Afghan refugee in Pakistan who testified that Pakistani intelligence agency officials threatened to sell him to the U.S. for a bounty payment.
“When I was in jail, they said I needed to pay them money and if I didn’t pay them, they’d make up wrong accusations about me and sell me to the Americans and I’d definitely go to Cuba,” he told the tribunal. “After that I was held for two months and 20 days in their detention, so they could make wrong accusations about me and my (censored), so they could sell us to you.”
Transcripts also included details of other detainees captured in European countries and sold for briefcases full of money.
In 2002, the AP reported Afghan leaders announced plans to award information regarding al-Qaeda leaders, just days after meeting with American diplomats. Following the meetings, leaflets were dropped throughout Afghanistan, informing Afghans of potential bounties for information.
“You can receive millions of dollars. … This is enough to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life — pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all your people,” the leaflets read.
A UNICEF report shows the Gross National Income of the average Afghan citizen at $900 U.S. per year.
According to the organization, Reprieve, 779 prisoners were reportedly held in Guantanamo Bay from 2003 to June 2004, when the Supreme Court ruled prisoners should have access to the courts.
The RFJ website indicates the program does, however, discourage the work of bounty hunters:
“We strongly discourage bounty hunters and other non-government individuals from pursuing the capture of terrorists; instead, RFJ provides rewards for information that will enable appropriate government authorities to locate and apprehend such individuals.”
Growing bounties
The highest bounty currently stands on the head of Ayman Al-Zawahari, with rewards of up to $25 million for information leading to his conviction or capture. That’s the same dollar amount offered for information regarding the arrest and capture of Osama Bin Laden. Al-Zawahiri is widely known as the most wanted of suspected terrorist, having served as Bin Laden’s former deputy.
Informants on the list include those with previous U.S. connections, including Zulkifli bin Hir, a native of Malaysia who gained his training as an engineer in the U.S. He is now considered the head of KMM Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), a terrorist organization in Malaysia considered to have had a role in the 2005 Bali bombings. While the Philippine military claimed in February to have killed Hir in an airstrike, he remains on the bounty list.
Bin Laden was also known to have U.S. connections, with former ties to the CIA in the 1980s when he was used as an ally in Afghanistan in the fight against the Soviet Union’s occupation of the country. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is another once-suspected terrorist wanted by the U.S. who allegedly received funding from the CIA through his involvement in the early 1980s in Afghanistan. He was considered to have sold drugs, specifically heroin, to fund the Mujaheddin, which was active in the fight against Soviet occupation. While put on the U.S. wanted list in 2003, he no longer is listed.
(Source: MintPress)