US State Department offers $7m for information on Hezbollah leader

Announcement comes on 40th anniversary of the Beirut car bombing

Hezbollah members during a gathering to commemorate Al Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) in a suburb outside Beirut, Lebanon. EPA

On the anniversary of the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, the US State Department on Tuesday announced a multimillion-dollar reward for information that would lead to the capture of a leader of Hezbollah, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack.

The State Department's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) programme said it would offer up to $7 million for information leading to the identification or capture of Ibrahim Aqil, also known as Tahsin, who the State Department said serves on Hezbollah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council.

The announcement came on the 40th anniversary of the suicide car bombing that killed 63 people, including 32 Lebanese embassy employees and 17 Americans.

The US and other western countries have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, and over the years have announced numerous sanctions against individuals and businesses believed to have ties with the group.