Pages


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

10 of the world's most wanted men.


The recent arrest of Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic and the US military operation against al-Qaeda figurehead Osama bin Laden ensured the demise of two of the world's most wanted men.

Bin Laden had topped the FBI's most wanted list for 10 years while Mladic had been in hiding since 2001 after being charged with genocide and crimes against humanity by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for his actions in the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Find the list 10 of the world's most wanted men.


Ayman al-Zawahiri (AP Photo)

Often described as the "real brains" of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's one-time right-hand man is the former head of Islamic Jihad and the most wanted terrorist on the planet - even though Egyptian fanatic Saif al-Adel is said to be the new leader of the organisation.

Reportedly a qualified surgeon, Al-Zawahiri speaks Arabic, English and French, and is thought to be hiding in the tribal regions of northern Pakistan. The FBI has placed a $24 million bounty on his head.


Joaquín Guzmán (AP Photo)

Guzmán's nickname is El Chapo or Shorty. The 5ft 6in head of the Sinaloa cartel is viewed as the most fearsome drug lord in Mexico and suspected of being responsible for many of the the 3,000 murders that plague the town of Ciudad Juárez every year.

Since he escaped from prison in 2001, Guzmán is believed to have used his expertise in tunnels and air logistics to ship around £20 billion worth of drugs into the US and raked in a personal fortune of £500 million - which makes the £3 million offered by the DEA for his arrest look like pocket money in comparison.


Semion Mogilevich (Rex Features)

Described by the FBI as being a "heavy smoker" with "pockmarks on his face", the vastly overweight Mogilevich could easily be mistaken for a chef in your local builder's cafe. In reality, he reputedly holds the altogether more fearsome job title of 'boss of bosses' in the Russian mafia.

Since he wriggled out of a jail term for tax evasion in 2009, the 'Brainy Don' (he has an economics degree) has allegedly been involved with a £75 million share fraud in Pennsylvania. His other reputed crimes include murder, arms dealing and drug trafficking.


Dawood Ibrahim (Getty Images)

Thanks to the involvement of his D-Company crime network in everything from contract killing to counterfeiting and drug trafficking, Ibrahim has earned the title of 'most wanted man in India' - which, let's face it, is quite a feat in a nation of more than a billion souls.

It doesn't stop there either: Ibrahim is said to have close ties to al-Qaeda and its offshoot Lashkar-e-Taiba, and is suspected of being the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people and wounded 713.


James 'Whitey' Bulger (AP Photo)

Ever watched The Departed and winced at the savage brutality of Jack Nicholson's crazed gangland boss? Well, that's just a small taste of the world inhabited by Bulger, whose Boston-based Irish-American crime network, The Winter Hill Gang, inspired the movie.

Bulger has been linked to 19 different murders in the 1970s and 1980s, plus racketeering, drug trafficking and car theft.

Yet there's just one problem: nobody knows where he is. Bulger fled the US in 1995 and hasn't been spotted since he surfaced in London in 2002. With around £20 million in his pocket, it's unlikely the 81-year-old will show his face now.


Joseph Kony (AP Photo)

Ugandan guerilla leader Joseph Kony claims he can read people's minds, perform magic and talk to God. Yet that's just the tip of the iceberg when you consider he has reportedly overseen the kidnapping of over 66,000 children and turned them into soldiers in his fighting force, the Lord's Resistance Army.

This has led to the brutal deaths of thousands and caused more than two million people to flee their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Despite joint military efforts by the Ugandan, Congolese and southern Sudanese forces, Kony has so far evaded capture - even though he's wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.


Andrei Lugovoi (AP Photo)

British police have been trying to extradite Lugovoi for the murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006. To date, the Russian government, citing its constitution, which bars citizens from being extradited to be put on trial abroad, has refused to comply.

Scotland Yard remains adamant that Lugovoi poisoned Litvinenko by slipping a dose of polonium-210 in his tea during one of many meetings between the two men in London. It also suspects that he acted on the orders of Russia's FSB, the former KGB.


Anwar al-Awlaki (Rex Features)

Anwar al-Awlaki is the US-born leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula (AQAP) - a 300-strong band of ferociously dedicated fighters living in the mountains of Yemen. He was recently named as "the most dangerous man in the world" by a US security official.

Under al-Awlaki's leadership, AQAP has become the most active al-Qaeda cell on the planet, claiming responsibility for the attempted airline bombings on Christmas Day 2009 and a foiled plot to send parcel bombs into the US in October of the same year.

Al-Awlaki is also thought to be involved in the Fort Hood shootings in 2009, where a US army major went on a rampage, killing 13 innocent people.



Félicien Kabuga (Public domain)

If there's one man's drink you want to avoid spilling in the pub, it's the head of the Cosa Nostra. So should you happen to come across a 45-year-old Italian who calls himself 'Diabolik' and has a penchant for Porsches and Rolex watches then run like crazy to another boozer.

Why? Well, Denaro is thought to have been behind the infamous bombing of anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and is said to have gradually taken over the reigns of the Sicilian mafia since the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano in 2006. The Italian police also reckon he will do everything possible to increase the power of the mafia.


Matteo Messina Denaro (AP Photo)

Kabuga is commonly referred to as the 'financier' of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that saw more than 800,000 Tutsi men slaughtered in 100 days of terror.

He has been charged with 11 counts by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda including genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Convention.

Despite this hideous list of crimes, it is widely believed that Kabuga is currently being protected by a cartel of powerful politicians in Kenya. Until he falls out with these associates, it's unlikely he will be caught and brought to justice.
src-msn

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...