U.S. Puts Price on Mullah's Head

Dec. 13 -- A $10 million bounty will be placed on the head of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in a stepped up campaign to target Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, the United States revealed today.

The move was announced along with confirmation that significant numbers of U.S. special forces had been deployed to reinforce teams already in Afghanistan.

Shortly after the release of a videotape of Osama bin Laden which shows he had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that the United States would soon announce rewards for a "finite number" of Taliban and al Qaeda figures.

When asked whether U.S. military operations were focused on any other areas besides Tora Bora, where al Qaeda fighters have been holed up in caves under days of heavy airstrikes and ground assault by anti-Taliban forces, Rumsfeld said, "Well, I mean, you've got — Omar is missing. Where is Omar? We're looking for him and his senior people, as well."

He did not, at first, say specifically what the reward would be, responding only, "Think 10."

When asked if he meant $10 million, he said, "You bet."

Rewards of $25 million have already been offered for information leading to the capture of bin Laden and a group of other senior al Qaeda leaders, and Rumsfeld said the United States has received a stream of reports — some credible, most not — regarding the whereabouts of the terror mastermind and his top lieutenants.

The United States has also increased the number of special operations forces in Afghanistan, though the number of other troops there has been decreased so the overall number has remained relatively level, Rumsfeld said, without specifying how many troops were in the country.

He indicated that the special operations forces were not there to act as liaisons with anti-Taliban fighters, as they were in the earlier stages of the campaign, but to focus on getting bin Laden, Omar and others wanted for their suspected connection to terrorism. He also said they were soldiers who were ready to engage the enemy if need be.

"It is something that is evolving, it is fast moving," Rumsfeld said. "We put people in there who have capabilities to do a host of different things. And they are people who are combatants. They're engaged in the process.

"What they might do if one or three or five of the various hypothetical things one can imagine might occur is obvious: They would be there to do whatever needed to be done to get their hands on the kinds of people we're looking for," he added.