The United States this week announced that for the first time it is offering substantial rewards for information about leaders of West African terrorist organizations.
Through the Rewards for Justice program, the United States is offering rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of Yahya Abu el Hammam, the leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian who claimed responsibility for the In Amenas gas plant attack last January which left at least 37 hostages dead.
Additionally, the program will allocate awards of up to $3 million each for information leading to the location of Malik Abou Abdelkarim (AQIM) and Oumar Ould Hamaha, spokesperson for the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa.
Up to $7 million will be awarded for information leading authorities to Abubakar Shekau, the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
"This is a system that works," said Kurt Rice, acting assistant director of diplomatic security's Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate, of the rewards program in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
"Most importantly this is a system that saves lives, and has saved countless lives."
"This reward program is a single tool that we have to try to gain information on these people's locations so we can get them before a court," Rice said. He said the State Department would work to bring the suspected terrorists "before our [American] courts or before the courts of our partner nations".
David Gillmore, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for African affairs, said the United States would continue to support local authorities in their domestic counterterrorism efforts. "Our approach with this has been to support the governments in the region," he said.
The administration of President Barack Obama has advocated for "a comprehensive approach" to combating terrorism in the region, Rice said, placing particular emphasis on youth employment programs and combating social inequality. "A security-based solution is not the only answer," he said.
Since the Rewards for Justice Program was created in 1984, the State Department has paid over $125 million to more than 80 individuals who have helped track down international criminals.
