US offers $5 million for info on American’s murder in Yemen

WASHINGTON – The State Department says it will pay up to $5 million for information about the killers of an American citizen who was slain in Yemen five years ago in an attack claimed by an al-Qaida affiliate.

The department announced Wednesday that its “Rewards for Justice” program would offer the cash to anyone with information leading to the arrest or conviction of the killers of Joel Shrum. The 29-year-old educator from Pennsylvania was shot and killed in Taiz, Yemen on March 18, 2012. Al-Qaida’s Yemen branch claimed responsibility several days after the attack.

Since 1984, the program has paid more than $125 million to more than 80 people who have provided information that has helped bring terror suspects to justice or prevented terrorist attacks.