US-funded TV ads seek tips to find bin Laden
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A television and radio campaign offering a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden hit the airwaves in Pakistan this week in a US-government funded drive to get fresh leads about the Al Qaeda leader.
The 30-second television spot flashes photographs of bin Laden and 13 other top terrorism suspects, including his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar, with an emotional appeal for help in bringing them to justice.
"Who are the people who are suffering from terrorism? Our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters! Who are those terrorists? And who can stop them? Only you!" a voice appeals in the Urdu language.
The spot makes no direct reference to the US government, a reflection of continued resentment of the United States by many in this Islamic nation of 150 million, despite close official ties between Islamabad and Washington in the war on terrorism.
The campaign is an upshot of counterterrorist rewards legislation authored by Representative Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois. The measure also gave President Bush the option to double the reward for bin Laden to $50 million.
The US government has publicized rewards for Al Qaeda and Taliban suspects before -- on posters, matchbox covers, newspaper ads, the Internet, and even with leaflets scattered from the air in Pakistan's tribal regions. This is the first time they've used TV.
Greggory Crouch, spokesman at the US Embassy in Islamabad, said the TV messages are part of a nationwide campaign.
The response was cool among viewers interviewed in three cities. "It's useless!" laughed Mohammed Arshad, a shopkeeper in Peshawar. "Everyone knows what Osama looks like anyway. People even name their babies after him." 