LOS ANGELES – The FBI has started a publicity campaign in Afghanistan touting its $1 million reward for information about an American charged with treason for allegedly working for Al Qaeda.
Adam Yahiye Gadahn, 29, grew up in Riverside County, Calif., east of Los Angeles. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana in 2005 and charged with one count of treason and two counts of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The FBI alleges Gadahn moved to Pakistan in 1998 and attended an Al Qaeda training camp six years later, serving as a translator and consultant for the group.
Gadahn is "an integral part of Al Qaeda's media and recruitment branch [and] has endorsed terrorist activity," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Friday.
Pakistani news sources reported in February that Gadahn was killed in a missile strike, but the FBI has not received conclusive evidence of his death, Eimiller said.
The publicity campaign will include matchbooks, handbills and posters that will be distributed throughout Afghanistan.
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