Replacing bin Laden on the FBI's Most Wanted list

Now that Public Enemy No. 1 is crossed off the list, how will the feds pick a next fugitive to add?

With Osama bin Laden dead, the FBI will need to bring another criminal into its ten most wanted list, a process that could take weeks.
(Image credit: Screen shot, FBI.gov)

Osama bin Laden's death opens up a spot on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. But adding a name to the list is "not quite as simple as moving the No. 11 guy up a spot," says Ryan J. Reilly at Talking Points Memo. Here, a brief guide to how the list works:

What exactly is the Ten Most Wanted list?

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When did bin Laden's name go on the list?

The al Qaeda leader was placed on the list on June 7, 1999, after he was indicted for his role in planning the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya — which killed more than 200 people. After 9/11, intelligence agencies quickly determined that bin Laden's terrorist group had carried out the attacks, and in October 2001 his name was added to the State Department's Most Wanted Terrorists List, too. Bin Laden "has been the only person on both lists," according to Reuters.

Who else is on the list?

The list already includes an assortment of alleged murderers, robbers, drug dealers, and fraudsters. There's James "Whitey" Bulger, wanted in connection with Boston mob hits in the '70s and '80s, and Semion Mogilevich, an alleged investment fraud mastermind. Each new candidate must have "a lengthy record of committing serious crimes and/or be considered a particularly dangerous menace to society."

So how will the FBI replace bin Laden?

It has already updated the list provisionally, by placing a red banner reading "deceased" under bin Laden's picture. But replacing him will take "at least a few weeks," says Reilly at Talking Points Memo. The bureau will take nominations from the 56 field offices around the country. Once those names are in, a committee of representatives from the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division and its public affairs office will pick the next fugitive to add from those nominated names. The proposed replacement must be approved by the FBI director before officially being added to the list.

Who is likely to fill the vacant spot ?

If reward money is any indication, bin Laden might be replaced by his No. 2 at al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is also wanted in connection with the 1998 embassy bombings. The $25 million reward being offered for information leading to his capture, says Erica Goode in The New York Times, is second only to the price that had been placed on bin Laden's head.

Sources: FBI (2), New York Times, Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Wall St. Journal