Russia to pay more for plane bombers than US for Baghdadi

CAIRO

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has slapped a $50-million bounty on the heads of the bombers of the Russian plane that went down last month over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, which killed all 224 people on board.

The aircraft went down on Oct. 31 shortly after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. A Daesh affiliate in Egypt claimed responsibility for the attack, citing the Russian military's intervention in war-torn Syria.

"We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them," Putin said of the alleged bombers. The Russian FSB security service swiftly announced a $50-million bounty in a global manhunt for the bombers.

The Russian bounty, however, is higher than the rewards offered by the United States for slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi combined.

Bin Laden – who claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks – had the highest price for his head when the U.S. announced a $25-million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

In May 2011, bin Laden was shot and killed during a U.S. covert operation on his residential compound in Pakistan.

The U.S. also offered $25 million for the head of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became the leader of al-Qaeda after bin Laden, and for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who had been captured in late 2003 following a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Washington has also offered a $10-million bounty for information leading to the arrest or death of Daesh leader Baghdadi, whose militant group has captured vast swathes of territory in both Syria and Iraq.

U.S. authorities had also offered a $10-million reward for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who died last year.