U.S. designates leader of al Qaida in Iraq terrorist

The United States on Tuesday designated the leader of al Qaida in Iraq (AQI) as a terrorist, and offered an award of 10 million U.S. dollars for information leading to his location. The State Department said Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri, alias Abu Du'a, is running AQI operations and responsible for managing and directing large-scale attacks, such as the Aug. 28 assault on the Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad, which killed prominent Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi. In a statement eulogizing Osama bin Laden, al-Badri threatened "violent retaliation" for the former al Qaida leader's death in May in a U.S. raid in Pakistan, the department said in a statement, noting that three days after bin Laden's death, the AQI leader claimed responsibility for an attack in Hilla, Iraq, that killed 24 policemen and wounded 72 others. "This designation plays a critical role in our fight against terrorism and is an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to abandon terrorism," it said. The U.S. move bars material support for or any transactions with al-Badri, and all his property in the United States is frozen. In addition, the State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering a 10-million-dollars reward for information that leads to his location. The AQI is listed by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization, the department said.