U.S. Offers $10 Mln for Information about Hezbollah Leader Kawtharani

On Friday, the United States offered up to $10 million for information about Sheik Mohammad al-Kawtharani, a senior leader of the Islamist group Hezbollah in Iraq who was a partner of the late Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Revealing the reward, U.S. State Department said: "Kawtharani had "taken over some of the previously coordinated political leadership of Iran-aligned paramilitary groups by Soleimani, a leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Baghdad in January."

"He encourages in this capacity the acts of groups operating beyond the control of Iraq's government that have violently crushed demonstrations, threatened international diplomatic missions, and engaged in widespread organized criminal activity," he said in a statement.

The State Department said it was offering the amount for information about the operations, networks and associates of Kawtharani as part of an attempt to undermine Lebanese-based Hezbollah's "political mechanisms."

In 2013, Kawtharani was branded by the United States as a global terrorist, accused of supporting armed groups in Iraq and helping to transport Iraqi fighters to Syria to support the efforts of President Bashar al-Assad to bring down a uprising against his rule.

Reuters stated in February that according to two Iraqi sources and a senior Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim official, Kawtharani was seen as the most suitable figure for guiding Iraqi militias before a permanent Iranian replacement could be appointed, even though he did not have the clout of Soleimani.

"Kawtharani has links to the militia groups," said the statement. "He was respected by Soleimani who used to depend on him for support in crises and meetings in Baghdad."