Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program is increasing to $25 million its reward offer for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also known as Ibrahim ‘Awwad Ibrahim ‘Ali al-Badri, also known as Abu Du’a. This represents a significant increase from the previous reward offer of $10 million announced in October 2011. 
 
 Protecting the homeland and the American people is our top counterterrorism priority, and just as we have intensified our efforts against ISIL, we are increasing the means available to us to gain information on their leadership and bring them to justice. In June 2014, ISIL, also known as Da’esh, seized control of portions of Syria and Iraq, self-declared a so-called Islamic caliphate, and named al-Baghdadi as caliph. In recent years, ISIL has gained the allegiance of jihadist groups and radicalized individuals around the world, and has inspired attacks in the United States. 
 
 Under al-Baghdadi, ISIL has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, including the brutal murder of numerous civilian hostages from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The group also has conducted chemical weapons attacks in Iraq and Syria in defiance of the longstanding global norm against the use of these appalling weapons, and has enabled or directed terrorist attacks beyond the borders of its self-declared caliphate. 
 
 In 2011, the Department of State designated Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. Al-Baghdadi was also added to the United Nations Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions Committee in 2011. Al-Baghdadi was the leader of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI), which subsequently morphed into ISIL. 
 
 More information about al-Baghdadi is located on the Rewards for Justice website at www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information about al-Baghdadi to contact the Rewards for Justice office via e-mail (no2daesh@rewards4justice.co), by phone (1-800-877-3927 in North America), or by mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA). All information will be kept strictly confidential. 
 
 The Rewards for Justice Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Rewards4Justice. ||||| A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi making what would have been his first public appearance, at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014, in this still image taken from video. REUTERS/Social Media Website via Reuters TV/File Photo 
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday more than doubled its previous reward for information on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, offering $25 million for information that would help locate, arrest or convict the head of the jihadist group. 
 
 The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program previously offered $10 million for information on Baghdadi, announced in October 2011. The increase was announced in a statement on Friday. 
 
 Baghdadi, an Iraqi whose real name is Ibrahim al-Samarrai, declared himself the caliph of a huge swath of Iraq and Syria two years ago. 
 
 His exact location is not clear. Reports have said he may be in the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, Iraq, or in Islamic State-held territory to the west of the city, close to the border with Syria. 
 
 Kurdish officials believe that growing pressure resulting from a coalition military assault on Mosul is causing Baghdadi and his top lieutenants to move around and try to hide themselves.
– The US doesn't want Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to be another one that got away. The State Department has more than doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of the ISIS leader, who is rumored to be in Mosul or in ISIS-held territory west of the Iraqi city, Reuters reports. The reward has gone from $10 million to $25 million for al-Baghdadi, who was labeled a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in 2011, the State Department said in a press release. After the offensive to retake Mosul from the militant group began, al-Baghdadi released his first message in almost a year, telling followers that "holding your ground in honor is a thousand times better than retreating in disgrace."