US ups reward for info on al-Qaida leaders in Africa attacks

WASHINGTON – The United States is doubling rewards for al-Qaida leaders charged for their roles in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.

The State Department said Wednesday the reward for information leading to the location, arrest or conviction of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (ahb-DUHL-lah AH-mehd ahb-DUHL-lah) and (SAFE el-AH-duhl) is now $10 million, up from $5 million offered since 2000.

The two leaders were charged by a federal grand jury for the 1998 attacks that killed more than 250 people, including 12 Americans and injuring nearly 5,000 others.

Tuesday marked 20 years since the bombings, the first major al-Qaida attack on U.S. targets, three years before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.