The United States is hunting for the son of former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and is willing to pay up to $1 million for information on his whereabouts.
According to the US State Department, Hamza bin Laden, whose father was killed by US Navy Seals in Pakistan in 2011, is emerging as a leader in the al Qaeda terror network.
“He has released audio and video messages on the Internet, calling on
his followers to launch attacks against the United States and its
Western allies, and he has threatened attacks against the United States
in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by US military
forces,” it said in a statement.
The State Department said when his father was killed, items seized
from his hiding place in Pakistan indicated he was grooming Hamza bin
Laden to replace him as the leader of the terror group. The younger bin
Laden is married to the daughter of the lead hijacker in the September
2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the State Department said.
As American officials hunt him down, United Nations member states are
required to freeze Hamza bin Laden’s assets, and comply with a travel
ban and arms embargo, according to the State Department bureau of
counterterrorism. US officials estimate Hamza bin Laden is between ages
30 and 33.