US places $10m bounty on Nairobi, Dar embassy bombers

The State Department says that it is doubling rewards offered for information leading to the arrest of two men sought in connection with the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

The bounty on Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah and Sayf al-Adl is being increased from $5 million to $10 million.

Both men are Egyptian nationals now in their 50s who are wanted by the FBI for allegedly helping plan and execute the attacks that killed a total of 212 East Africans and 12 Americans.

Sayf al-Adl, a former colonel in the Egyptian army, is said to be an explosives expert and a member of al-Qaeda’s military committee.

Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah is alleged to have operated an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the years prior to the embassy attacks carried out by the terrorist organisation then headed by Osama bin Laden.

Nine individuals have been convicted in the US on charges related to the two bombings 20 years ago.

All have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Another 10 persons accused of involvement in the Kenya and Tanzania attacks have been killed or have died of natural causes.

The most prominent member of this group is bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan by US commandos in 2011.

In addition to Abdullah and al-Adl, a third figure charged in the embassy attacks remains at large: Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is believed to be the current leader of Al-Qaeda.

The increased rewards announced on Wednesday are offered through the State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” programme.

Since its inception in 1984, the programme has paid a total of some $145 million to more than 90 individuals who provided actionable information leading to the arrest of suspected terrorists or to the prevention of attacks.