Upping The Ante In Bin Laden Hunt

U.S. Officials Expected To Double Reward For His Capture To $50M

(CBS)  Thousands of U.S., Afghan and Pakistani troops and who knows how many spooks and special forces teams have searched for him for more than three years now, with no success.

Now, hoping that plain old greed and publicity will prompt a slew of new leads, U.S. officials are blanketing Pakistani television with more "Most Wanted" ads for Osama bin Laden and his terrorists, CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports.

"You may get a reward of up to $25 million (and) be resettled to any new place with your family," the ads offer.

So far, about a dozen tips a day are coming in, although many Pakistanis remain dubious.

"Maybe in one percent out of 100 it'll make an impact," said one young man in a café. "But in my opinion, I don't think so."

The ads are a prelude to what is expected to be a dramatic increase in the reward money for bin Laden, from its current $25 million to $50 million sometime later this month. Counter-terrorism experts believe it also reflects a subtle shift in U.S. thinking about where bin Laden may be hiding.

Instead of staying in the barren mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where many believed he fled after 9/11, some officials now conclude he may be within range of TV viewers in Pakistan's larger cities.

They cite, for example, the cleaned-up, almost pressed look of bin Laden's clothing in his most recent videotape, and the fact that it was delivered to television networks very quickly after its taping. Plus, several other al Qaeda leaders, including bin Laden's chief lieutenants Khalid Sheik Muhammed and Ramzi Binalsheib, were captured in large Pakistan cities.

"We do know that we've been quite successful in apprehending al Qaeda figures in Pakistan, and perhaps there will be information about these people," says the State Department's Frances X. Taylor.

It might also help if Pakistani viewers understood the details of the reward: that's $50 million to the penny being offered. Overseas informants, officials point out, don't pay any income tax.