US Offers $7Mln Reward For Information On Hezbollah's Ibrahim Aqil - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th April, 2023) The United States on Tuesday announced a reward of up to $7 million for any information that leads to the arrest or conviction of Ibrahim Aqil, a Hezbollah leader that Washington believes was involved in the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.

"Today, on the 40th anniversary of Hezbollah's bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, the US Department of State's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, is announcing a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the identification, location, arrest, and/or conviction of Hezbollah key leader Ibrahim Aqil," the State Department said in a statement.

The State Department said Aqil, also known as Tahsin, was a member of Hezbollah's Jihad Council, its highest military body, and also belonged to the group's Islamic Jihad Organization, which claimed responsibility for the 1983 attacks.

The United States also believes Aqil directed several hostage takings in Lebanon that targeted US and German citizens throughout the 1980s.

The bombing of the US Embassy in April 1983 killed 63 people and the October 1983 attack on the Marine barracks killed 241 personnel.

The US Treasury Department in July 2015 imposed sanctions on Aqil, and the State Department in September 2019 branded him as a specially designated global terrorist.