June 05, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1429

WASHINGTON, June 4: The United States has launched a major public relations campaign in Afghanistan and Fata to capture Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American national charged with treason.

The FBI and State Department are using radio ads, posters and matchbooks to spread the word about a $1 million reward for information on Gadahn’s whereabouts.

“As the first person charged with treason against the United States since World War II, the capture of Adam Gadahn is a high priority for the Justice Department,” said US attorney Thomas P. O’Brien.

“This man has advocated the overthrow of the US government and applauded the murder of US citizens. He deserves to be prosecuted, and I hope this new campaign will help bring him to justice.”

The announcement comes despite Pakistani media reports that Gadahn was killed in an airstrike earlier this year.

The FBI “does not possess conclusive evidence or reliable confirmation that these reports are accurate,” the agency said in a written statement. “In the absence of such confirmation, Gadahn is considered a fugitive and is currently being sought by the FBI.”

Gadahn, who grew up on a goat farm in California, later converted to Islam and is believed to have left Southern California in the mid-to-late1990s.

The 29-year-old American appeared in several Al Qaeda videos, one of which included his promise that “the streets of America shall run red with blood”.

He is also the alleged writer of English subtitles on Al Qaeda videos.