A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army denied reports that a $25 million bounty was issued for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, "dead or alive," according to CNN.

"The FSA has no affiliation with a Syrian opposition group in Egypt calling itself 'the Free Syrian Army to protect the Revolution' and their $25 million bounty on Bashar Assad's head," Louai Miqdad, spokesman of the Higher Revolutionary Council of the Free Syrian Army, said from Turkey.

Earlier, Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported that a bounty would be paid by Syrian businessmen who support the rebels trying to oust al-Assad. The report cited FSA commander Ahmad Hijazi. The businessmen were not identified for security reasons.