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Guest Commentary: October 10, 2001
The Most-Wanted-Terrorist List The Honorable Robert Mueller
For more than a half a century, the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives initiative has put a global spotlight on those attempting to flee from justice.
A total of 467 dangerous criminals have been put under the watchful eye of the international community since 1950. Four hundred and thirty-eight of those fugitives have been captured, a success rate of nearly 94 percent. Of that number, nearly one in three have been apprehended through a tip from a private citizen.
And now, with [The Most-Wanted-Terrorist List] we are spotlighting those who attack freedom itself: terrorists who hide in the shadows and whisper their plots in the dark corners of the world. Through the continuing support of the media, we are going to spread the names and faces of the most dangerous terrorists across the globe so that they have nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.
Already the support of the global community and the work of our legal attache offices overseas have helped to bring to justice four out of the five international terrorists on our original 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. One of those was Mir Aimal Kansi, who brutally murdered two CIA employees in 1993. Thanks to a tip from a private citizen overseas we were able to locate and arrest Kansi and return him to the United States to face justice.
A second international terrorist we located through the fugitive list was Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. Yousef was apprehended overseas, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.
The FBI's Most Wanted program is one of the most successful law enforcement initiatives ever launched. Now we are once again combining the power and reach of the media with the eyes and ears of millions of concerned citizens worldwide in the fight against terrorism. And as the president has made clear, this is not just America's fight, it is the world's fight. We call upon all of those who cherish freedom and justice to join us in ridding our earth of the terrible scourge of terrorism.
Note: Robert Mueller is the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The above commentary has been adapted from a statement Director Mueller gave to announce the FBI's new program, "The Most-Wanted-Terrorist List", at FBI headquarters, October 10, 2001.
