An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Abu Ubaydah Yusef Al Anabi, the leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP
An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Abu Ubaydah Yusef Al Anabi, the leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP
An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Abu Ubaydah Yusef Al Anabi, the leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP
An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Abu Ubaydah Yusef Al Anabi, the leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP

US announces bounty on Al Qaeda chief in North Africa


Bryant Harris
  • English
  • Arabic

The US on Wednesday placed a bounty of up to $7 million on the leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the organisation’s North Africa branch.

The State Department's Rewards for Justice programme announced that it would offer the money "for information leading to the location or identification of Abu Ubaydah Yusef Al Anabi".

Mr Al Anabi, an Algerian citizen, previously led Aqim's media and propaganda operations but became the leader of the group last year after French troops killed his predecessor, Abdelmalek Droukdel, in Mali.

The US imposed sanctions on Mr Al Anabi in 2015, as did the UN in 2016.

While most of the group’s fighters are engaged in ground combat in Mali, he and many of the organisation’s leaders are thought to be based in Algeria.

Washington first designated Aqim's predecessor organisation, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, a terrorist entity in 2001.

The group rebranded and pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda’s global network in 2006.

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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

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