Rice Puts $5 Million Bounty on Al-Masri

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speaks at a news conference during the G8 foreign ministers meeting in Moscow, Thursday, June 29, 2006. G8 foreign ministers, who were meeting in Moscow before a July 15-17 summit of G8 leaders, to be held in St. Petersburg, discussed a range of pressing issues, including North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) (Alexander Zemlianichenko - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday approved up to $5 million in exchange for information on Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the new face of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Al-Masri is presumed to be the successor of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by an American bomb in early June.

Al-Masri is an Egyptian explosives expert who trained in Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan and was an associate of al-Zarqawi. Al-Masri has been fighting in Iraq since at least 2003 and was engaged in the battle of Fallujah in 2004.

Rice's agency is offering the money to encourage people with information about al-Masri's location to come forward, said spokesman Adam Ereli.

The State Department has directed people with tips to contact its Rewards for Justice program, any U.S. embassy or consulate, or any U.S. military commander in Iraq.

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