Profile: James 'Whitey' Bulger

James Bulger is one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives

The FBI lists James J Bulger as an avid reader with an interest in history who can often be found in libraries or visiting historic sites.

But he is also accused of leading a notorious organised crime group that operated in Boston, Massachusetts over 20 years ago.

Mr Bulger is wanted on multiple counts including murder, extortion, racketeering, and drug dealing.

That has placed him on the FBI's list of "most wanted fugitives" alongside Osama Bin Laden and several alleged drug barons.

The FBI is offering a $1m (£490,000) prize for information leading directly to Mr Bulger's arrest.

He has been reportedly sighted in London several times.

The FBI got excited in 2007 and scoured Europe after footage appeared to show him and his lover at a resort in Sicily, but it later proved to be video of a couple of innocent German holidaymakers.

'Carries a knife'

The FBI warns that Mr Bulger has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times.

JAMES BULGER DESCRIPTION Around 5' 8" tall Weighs around 11 stone White hair, blue eyes Pronounced Boston accent Animal lover Takes heart medication

Mr Bulger, now 78, grew up in a poor suburb of Boston.

He became the head of the "Winter Hill Group", an Irish-American gang that operated in the Boston area from the early 1970s until the mid-1980s.

He was accused of helping smuggle a cache of weapons from the US to the IRA in the early 1980s.

Mr Bulger has been on the run since 1995, when he escaped arrest thanks to a tip-off from an FBI agent on his payroll.

It later emerged that he had been a prized FBI informant who gave information about rival criminals.

Before fleeing Boston he apparently stashed away millions of dollars in bank accounts and safety deposit boxes, some of them in Britain.

This footage turned out to show an innocent German couple

He is now thought to be travelling with his long-time lover Catherine Elizabeth Greig, a dental hygienist in her 50s wanted by the FBI for harbouring Mr Bulger.

Nick-named "Whitey", he has used many aliases and disguises to avoid detection.

Mr Bulger keeps fit by walking on beaches and in parks, and the FBI lists both him and Ms Greig as loving animals and nature.

His brother William was a Massachusetts state senator and also served as state senate leader.

William Bulger has insisted he knows nothing about his brother's life, but was forced to resign as president of the University of Massachusetts in 2003 because of his brother's reputation.