Sources:
Egyptian
gets
$27
million
for
Mohammed's
arrest
tip
From
Kelli
Arena
CNN
Justice
Correspondent
WASHINGTON
(CNN)
--An
Egyptian
radical
will
get
$27
million
as
a
reward
for
giving
the
United
States
information
that
led
authorities
to
alleged
September
11,
2001,
mastermind
Khalid
Shaikh
Mohammed,
government
sources
said
Wednesday.
The
sources,
confirming
a
story
previously
reported
in
a
British
paper
and
in
Newsweek,
said
the
unnamed
Egyptian
was
captured
during
a
raid
in
Quetta,
Pakistan,
last
month.
The
Egyptian
was
described
as
an
al
Qaeda
foot
soldier.
Officials
said
he
not
only
claimed
the
$25
million
award
that
was
being
offered
by
the
U.S.
government
for
information
that
led
to
Mohammed's
arrest,
but
also
demanded
$2
million
more
to
help
cover
the
costs
of
his
family
moving
to
Great
Britain.
He
is
being
paid
the
money,
the
sources
said.
Mohammed,
who
has
been
linked
to
several
al
Qaeda
attacks
in
the
past
five
years,
was
arrested
in
a
raid
led
by
Pakistanis
on
March
1
in
a
house
outside
Islamabad.
He
was
one
of
the
FBI's
most
wanted
terrorists.
FBI
agents
are
continuing
to
run
down
leads
from
information
retrieved
in
the
arrest
of
Mohammed.
Sources
said
about
a
dozen
investigations
resulted
from
the
information,
in
various
U.S.
cities
including
Washington,
New
York
and
Los
Angeles.
Agents
are
trying
to
find
any
evidence
of
sleeper
cells
operating
in
the
United
States
as
they
run
down
names
and
other
leads
found
in
Mohammed's
computer
and
papers.
Some
of
the
other
leads
being
looked
into
concern
the
money
trail;
agents
are
checking
bank
accounts.
Government
sources
said
Tuesday
that
evidence
was
found
after
Mohammed's
arrest
that
money
was
transferred
into
the
United
States
after
the
September
11,
2001,
terrorist
attack.
Sources
were
more
specific
Wednesday,
saying
the
transfers
happened
in
November
2001.
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