Just a phone call away
U.S. officials pay out millions to tipsters for help finding terrorists
Edgar Gustavo Navarro had been a wanted man for months when the crucial tip about his whereabouts came into the U.S. Embassy in Colombia. The informant had learned from an episode of the U.S. television show 60 Minutes II about a U.S. reward offer for Navarro, a commander in the Colombian terrorist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) blamed for the kidnapping of three American contractors. After contacting U.S. diplomats and describing the location of Navarro's hideout, the source and two other colleagues guided the Colombian Army through the jungle for several days to the guerrilla camp. At 4 p.m. on Oct. 19, 2003, soldiers raided the camp, killing 11 bodyguards and Navarro in a brutal gun battle.
For their efforts, the informants, whose identities are kept secret, each received a $300,000 reward. The payoff was part of the Rewards for Justice program, run by the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which offers up to $25 million for tips that lead to the capture--or death--of some of the nation's most wanted terrorists. While the program has been around for two decades, it is a growing part of the U.S. counterterrorism apparatus and has been expanded to include "high value" Iraqi targets, such as Baathist official Muhammad Zimam al-Razzaq al-Sadun. A tipster who provided his whereabouts was paid $1 million. Indeed, the State Department has paid out nearly $48 million to 19 different people since Sept. 11, 2001. Although its success with al Qaeda targets has been limited, the reward offers have helped net some key fugitives, particularly in Iraq. U.S. officials say that five of Saddam Hussein's henchmen were nabbed with the help of tipsters motivated by the promise of cash.
The highest-profile case, involving the feared sons of Saddam, is a dramatic reminder of just how powerful a motive greed can be. Only 18 days after $15 million rewards were offered for Uday and Qusay Hussein, a tipster contacted U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division with the location of their hideout. Within 24 hours, the brothers were killed in a lengthy firefight with U.S. troops. Rumors later spread in Iraq that Uday and Qusay were betrayed by a close cousin who disappeared from Iraq around the time of the raid. U.S. officials refuse to comment on the tipster's identity but confirm that the informant was paid a record $30 million--and is no longer in Iraq.
Al Qaeda--and Osama bin Laden in particular--have been a more difficult target for the rewards program. The al Qaeda leader has had a price on his head for years. The reward was raised to $25 million after 9/11, but U.S. officials have yet to find someone in bin Laden's devout circle willing and able to betray him. "Where he is, we believe he is hiding among friends," says Francis Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security. "$25 million doesn't lead them to break with their tradition of helping friends." Bin Laden's most important deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also remains at large, despite a $25 million reward offer, as does America's most wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, also an al Qaeda associate.
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