Double the bounty on Osama
2004-03-19 07:50
Washington - The US House of Representatives on Thursday voted unanimously to double the reward -- to $50m - for the capture of terrorist Osama bin Laden.
The 414 to 0 vote came as the United States stepped up military efforts to capture or kill al-Qaeda's leader, held responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, which killed almost three thousand people.
Al-Qaeda number-two, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, was meanwhile believed to have been surrounded by Pakistani troops near the Afghan border.
The doubling of the reward was passed in the framework of a law increasing funds available to the US State Department for the fight against terrorists and drug traffickers who support them.
The measure, still to be voted by the Senate, gives the State Department considerable leeway in offering rewards in the form of cash, automobiles or household appliances.