If so, America’s engagement in this worldwide battle — partially precipitated by its historically uneasy relationship with Libya — officially began in 1984 when the State Department set up Rewards For Justice (RFJ), a program little-publicized in the United States that offers cash in return for information leading to the apprehension of top international terrorists.

To date, RFJ has paid 60 informants more than $100 million.

Knowledge obtained through RFJ has helped law enforcement officials locate many enemies of America, including Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; Edgar Navarro, commander of FARC revolutionary forces in Columbia; and Uday and Qusay Hussein, sons of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

“Through the efforts of the courageous people who have stepped forward with information about wanted terrorist suspects, the Rewards For Justice program has helped law enforcement authorities throughout the world stop terrorists and save lives,” Robert A. Hartung, who heads the program, told Arab News from Washington, DC.

A committee overseen by the State Department and drawn from the US military, federal law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, decides who is put on the “most wanted” list (postings can be found at www.rewardsforjustice.net) and determines when a person offering a tip deserves a reward of up to $5 million. 

Michael W.S. Ryan, senior research associate specializing in counter-terrorism at the Jamestown Foundation, a DC-based foreign policy think tank, commends RFJ because “it identifies people who are truly dangerous — not only to the US, but to people in the regions where they operate.”

Ryan also thinks RFJ is a better way of countering terror because it uses tactics more closely associated with police departments than the military.

“Middle East terror groups, almost all of which are largely in line with Al-Qaeda, take great care to study guerrilla warfare,” says Ryan. “Guerilla tactics work well against the military, but won’t prevent someone from being arrested while crossing a border.”

Hartung says the confidentiality guaranteed by RFJ to participants is the key to the success of the program. “We take the security of people who deal with us very, very seriously,” he says. “We never release the information of someone who has provided us with information. And in most cases we don’t even advertise that a reward has been provided.”

According to Hartung, the US government uses every means possible to protect RFJ informants, even to the point of moving them — and, if necessary, their families — to another country.  “If a person feels that he or she or a family member is in danger, we will relocate them,” he says.

RFJ and its agents from the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security only operate in countries where they have permission from the host nation. Terrorists sought by RFJ are advertised on matchbook covers, leaflets, posters, newspapers and radio and television. People can contact RFJ through the local US embassy or consulate (many diplomatic posts have a local telephone hotline) or by using a method suggested on the RFJ website. Some participants in the program contact RFJ while traveling outside their homeland.

“It’s my impression that even when the US is dealing with regimes with which we aren’t so friendly, our cooperation at a security level is often remarkably robust and good,” says Ryan. “When the basic currency for most terrorists is violence, preventing it becomes a concern common to us and every host national.”