US offers $5m bounty for TTP chief

WASHINGTON - The US is offering $11 million for information leading to the capture of three Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the leader of the Pakistani Taliban movement. The reward for Baitullah Mehsud, described as the senior leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is $5 million. Sirajuddin Haqqani, named as a senior leader of the Haqqani network founded by his father, Jalaladin Haqqani, also has a $5 million price on his head.
There is a $1 million reward for the capture of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a prominent Al-Qaeda leader considered a persuasive Islamic scholar, the State Department said in a statement.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday met with Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to improve coordination between the US and other troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Insurgent activity in Afghanistan rose last year to the highest level since the US ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks.