Bounty for an Al-Qaeda Leader Drops Dramatically

Osama bin Laden and his deputy are each worth up to $25 million. Mohammed Ali Hamadei, the suspect in a 1985 Lebanese hijacking, and Ramadan Shallah, the Syria-based head of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, are both worth up to $5 million.

But another terrorist has been expelled from the $5 million club — Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the Al Qaeda in Iraq chief who succeeded to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (a former $25 million target).

According to an American military official speaking to The Associated Press, Mr. Masri’s value has dropped to $100,000 in the past year — in terms of United States government bounties. Indeed, the reward for information leading to his capture has dropped so low that he is no longer among the rogue’s gallery at the Web site for the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program. He’s been transferred to a wanted list at the Defense Department.

Why? Capt. Jamie Graybeal, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that intelligence “led us to believe he’s not as effective a leader on the battlefield.” The dollars drop along with the threat, he explained: “Because of that he’s just not as valuable to us.”