Al-Qaeda puts bounty for US’ Yemen envoy

DUBAI - Reuters

Al-Qaeda said it was offerinf three kilograms of gold for envoy Feierstein. EPA photo

The Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda has offered a bounty for anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador to Yemen or an American soldier.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said it was offering three kilograms of gold for the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa, Gerald Feierstein, the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group said, citing an audio released by militants.

AQAP will also pay 5 million rials ($23,350) to whoever kills any U.S. soldier in Yemen, it said.

The offer, valid for six months, was made “to encourage our Muslim Ummah (nation), and to expand the circle of the jihad (holy war) by the masses,” SITE said, citing the audio.

In September, AQAP urged Muslims to step up protests and kill U.S. diplomats in Muslim countries over a film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, which it said was another chapter in the “crusader wars” against Islam.