The U.S. Senate is urging President Bush to raise the reward for Osama bin Laden's capture or death to $50 million, in the hope this will persuade one of the terrorist leader's associates to turn him in.
Lawmakers voted nearly unanimously (87-1) Friday to double the existing 25-million-dollar reward, and they also asked the White House to provide regular updates on what the U.S. is doing to track down bin Laden.
The Senate's action must also be approved by the House of Representatives and then by the president, whose aides have not commented on the issue. Much of official Washington has been involved this week in debate over reports suggesting that bin Laden's organization has regained much of its strength, despite six years of U.S. operations against the al-Qaida terror network.