The US on Thursday (October 18th) offered a $5 million reward to find al-Qaeda leader Khalid Batarfi, a veteran of the extremist fighters who backed the Taliban in Afghanistan, AFP reported.
The Saudi-born Batarfi has become a senior leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which the US considers the global network's deadliest branch.
In January, he urged worldwide attacks on Jews and Americans after Washington recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The US State Department said it was offering $5 million to anyone who could lead authorities to Batarfi or contribute to his arrest or prosecution.
The US also raised from $5 million to $10 million the reward offered for Qasim al-Rimi, considered the emir of AQAP.
He is already under US and UN sanctions after being linked to a deadly 2008 attack outside the US embassy in Yemen and for his alleged support to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber who unsuccessfully tried to blow up a US-bound flight on Christmas Day in 2009.
