By DPA
Washington : The US Senate, disturbed over a flurry of reports this week about an upsurge in terrorism, has doubled the price on the head of Osama bin Laden, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the World Trade Centre bombings.
The Senate Friday called for a reward of 50 million dollars for the “capture, or information leading to the capture,” of the Al Qaeda leader.
The move was part of an amendment to the defence authorization bill at the heart of a dispute with the White House over the course of the war in Iraq. The House of Representatives would also have to approve the increased fine for it to enter into law.
Despite a standing offer of 25 million dollars for his capture, Bin Laden has eluded US officials since the 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
US President George W. Bush on Thursday acknowledged that Al Qaeda might be at its strongest since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and continues to build a base of operations in remote and ungoverned areas of Pakistan.
His comments followed US media reports of a classified government document saying al-Qaeda was now as strong as during the planning stages of the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. There was also testimony by intelligence officials this week about how the terrorist network is flourishing in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
Democrats in Congress jumped on the report and testimony as evidence that the Bush administration was losing the war against terrorism by being mired in an unwinnable conflict in Iraq.
“When you hear a report that Al Qaeda’s stronger than it was before 9/11, it sends shivers down your spine,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said at a press conference of Democratic leaders. “If Al Qaeda is gaining strength, that is the greatest indictment of what we’re doing in Iraq.”
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also caused a stir this week with remarks in a newspaper interview that he had a “gut feeling” Al Qaeda was poised to carry out an attack on US soil this summer.
Chertoff back-pedalled later in the day, saying he had “no single piece of intelligence” that was worrisome. He cited the recent attempted attacks in London and Glasgow as reasons to worry about more attacks.
To add to unease about a terrorist attack, a US government agency released a report that showed how easy it is to obtain an official license to buy and handle radioactive materials needed to build a so-called dirty bomb.
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
The Senate bill would also require the secretaries of defence and state to submit 90-day updates on the status of bringing Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and “other key leaders” to justice.