U.S. Posts $10 Million Reward for Qaida Financier

The United States on Thursday offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a key al-Qaida fundraiser, who is said to be a Syrian operating from Iran.

The reward for Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil marks the first time that a "terrorist financier" has been targeted in such a way, said Robert Hartung, assistant director for threat investigations with the State Department.

According to U.S. officials, the man also known as Yacine al-Suri was born in Syria in 1982.

He was put on a U.S. Treasury Department blacklist in July when he was described as a high-level al-Qaida figure operating out of Iran. His role, according to U.S. officials, was to transfer funds and to recruit militants from the Middle East who transited via Iran to al-Qaida in Pakistan.

The $10 million was posted as part of the program "Rewards for Justice," set up in the 1980s, with the aim of hunting down suspects wanted for terror acts against the United States.

The current head of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has the highest bounty on his head of $25 million.