Naiva and her son Omar, with whom she worked on the book, live somewhere in the Middle East. They left Osama bin Laden before 9/11, but they are still his family. Naiva does not want to get a divorce; no criticism of her husband, a war criminal, will convince her. Together with her son, she talks about daily life with her husband, his habits, quirks and fears.
Naiva's memoirs talk about bin Laden's father, a construction contractor. He was very strict and beat his sons with sticks. Osama only spoke to his father one-on-one, when he was nine years old. He asked his father to buy him a car, but his father replied: “I won’t give you a car, you will get a bicycle.” But the boy didn’t get the bike either; it was given to Osama’s younger brother.
The al-Qaeda leader had five wives and more than 20 children. He met Naiva when he was nine and she was seven years old. In her book, the woman writes about that time: “He was a very serious and conscientious boy, he was proud, but not arrogant, he was sensitive, but not weak, he was indecisive, like a chaste virgin.”
Osama beautifully looked after Naiva: he collected flowers in the garden and gave them to her. They married in 1975, when he was 17 and she was 15. Dancing and laughing were not allowed at the wedding. Then Naiva began wearing a burqa and black clothes. She did not go to study because she was expecting a child. Osama told her that she needed to give birth to many fighters for Islam.
TV, telephone, air conditioning and refrigerator were prohibited in bin Laden's house. If children received a toy as a gift, Osama would break it. The wife could leave home only 30 years after the wedding, and then only to move or visit relatives.
In her book, Naiva recalls that there were two Osamas - a gentle one, who loved sunflowers and spent a lot of time in the garden in Saudi Arabia, and a cruel one, who organized terrorist attacks and picked up a Kalashnikov assault rifle, and also beat his children with sticks if they laughed.
The first wife of terrorist No. 1 also admits that bin Laden has asthma and is treated for it with honey and onions. The terrorist does not recognize modern medicine for religious reasons.
In 1979, Osama bin Laden and Naiva visited America. The woman was staying with relatives while her husband was exploring Los Angeles. Naiva said that at that time she and her husband hated the United States.
She also says that bin Laden constantly listens to the radio, his favorite radio station is the BBC. In addition, the woman revealed one of bin Laden's secrets. He is blind in his right eye, but hides it in every possible way.
According to Naiva, her husband has always been cruel to animals. For example, he once gassed a small puppy and watched the dog die.
In 1996, when bin Laden left Sudan, he and his family hid in the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan. His children were sleeping on the ground. One day his son Omar asked Osama when the holy war would end. The terrorist replied: “You should ask a Muslim when he finishes praying. I will fight to the death, until my last breath. I will never end the holy war.”
Terrorist No. 1 was killed in May 2011
Nearly 17 years after the September 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden's family remains an influential part of Saudi society - but also a reminder of the darkest moment in the kingdom's history and one of the most tragic chapters for all humanity.
The mother, stepfather and brothers of Osama bin Laden, with the consent of the Saudi Arabian authorities, spoke with a journalist from the British newspaper The Guardian - for the first time since the former No. 1 terrorist was killed on May 2, 2011 in Pakistan as a result of military operation American special forces. Bin Laden's relatives, as well as representatives of Saudi and British intelligence, spoke about what kind of person bin Laden was and how he came to do what he did.
NV offers to read the full translation of The Guardian's report from the bin Laden family home in Saudi Arabia.
"He was a very good kid"
A woman in a bright patterned robe sits expectantly in the corner of a sofa in a spacious room. The red hijab that covers her hair is reflected in the glass cabinet: inside it, among other family heirlooms and valuables, a framed photograph of her first-born son takes pride of place. The smiling bearded man is dressed in a military jacket; he is also depicted in many photographs hanging in the room. Meanwhile, dinner is prepared on the large wooden dining table - Saudi meze [a selection of appetizers] and lemon cheesecake.
Alia Ghanem is the mother of Osama bin Laden and has the attention of everyone in the room. Sitting on adjacent chairs are her two surviving sons, Ahmad and Hassan, as well as her second husband, Mohammed al-Attas, the man who raised all three brothers. Everyone in the family has their own story about a person who is used to being associated with the rise of global terrorism; but today it is Ghanem who holds court, describing the man who for her is still her beloved son, who once lost his way.
The Bin Ladens remain one of the kingdom's wealthiest families: their construction empire built much of modern Saudi Arabia and is deeply involved in the country's establishment
“My life was very difficult because he was so far from me,” she says with conviction. “He was very good child, and loved me so much." Ghanem, who is over 70 and whose health has already declined, points to al-Attas, a thin, slender man, dressed, like his two sons, in an immaculately ironed snow-white tobe - a robe-shirt, which worn by men in the Arabian Peninsula. “He [second husband Mohammed al-Attas] raised Osama from the age of three. He was good husband, and he was good for Osama."
The family gathered in one corner of their mansion in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, which was home to several generations of the bin Laden clan. They remain one of the kingdom's wealthiest families: their dynastic building empire built much of modern Saudi Arabia and is deeply involved in the country's establishment.
The bin Laden home reflects their wealth and influence, with a large central spiral staircase leading to huge, spacious rooms. Ramadan has come and gone, and now tables around the house are lined with bowls of dates and chocolate to mark the end of the three-day holiday [Eid al-Fitr].
Large estates line the rest of the street; This is wealthy Jeddah, and although there are no guards outside, the bin Ladens are the area's most prominent residents.
Saudi Arabia's new leadership, led by the ambitious 32-year-old heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, agreed to my [The Guradian's] request to speak with the family. (As one of the country's most powerful families, the bin Ladens' movements and meetings are under close surveillance.)
9/11: "From the very beginning we knew it was Osama"
Osama bin Laden's "legacy" is like a big dark stain on both the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and his family, so high-ranking officials believe that by allowing the bin Ladens to tell their story, they can demonstrate that a rogue and not an [country] agent was responsible for the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Critics of Saudi Arabia have long argued that Osama had state support, and families of 9/11 victims have begun legal proceedings (so far fruitless) against the kingdom. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian.
It is not surprising that Osama bin Laden's family is cautious at the start of our negotiations; they are not sure whether opening old wounds will be cathartic [purifying suffering] or will cause pain. But after a few days of discussion, they are ready to talk. When we meet on a hot day in early June, a Saudi government observer is in the room, although she makes no attempt to influence the conversation. (We were also joined by a translator.)
Sitting between Osama's half-brothers, Ghanem remembers his first-born as a shy boy, academically gifted. She said he became a strong, motivated, devout individual in his 20s while studying economics at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, where his views also became radicalized. "The people at the university changed him," says Ghanem. "He became a different person."
Among the people he met was Abdullah Azzam, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was subsequently expelled from Saudi Arabia and became Osama's spiritual mentor. "He was a very good kid until he met certain people who brainwashed him when he was barely 20. You could call it a cult. They got money for their cause. I always told him to stay away from them and he never would not have confessed to me what he was doing, because he loved me very much,” says Aliya Ghanem.
He was a very good child until he met certain people who brainwashed him thoroughly when he was barely 20
In the early 1980s, Osama traveled to Afghanistan to take part in the fight against the Soviet occupation. “Everyone who met him in his youth treated him with respect,” [Osama’s brother] Hassan takes the floor, continuing the story. “At first we were very proud of him. Even the Saudi government treated him with respect and recognition. And then it was Osama’s time -Mujahid".
There is a long, awkward silence as Hassan struggles to explain the transformation from fanatic to global jihadist. "I'm very proud of him in the sense that he was my big brother," he finally continues. "He taught me a lot. But I don't think I'm proud of him as a person. He achieved superstar status on the world stage, but that was all to nothing".
Ghanem listens intently, becoming more animated as the conversation turns back to Osama's formative years. "He was very straightforward. He did very well in school. He really enjoyed studying. He spent all his money on Afghanistan - he sneaked out under the guise of family business." Did she ever suspect that he might become a jihadist? "It never occurred to me." How did you feel when you realized this fact? "We were very upset. I didn't want all this to happen. Why did he leave everything like that?"
The family says that last time they saw Osama in Afghanistan in 1999, when they visited his base near Kandahar twice. "It was a place near the airport that they captured from the Russians," says Ghanem. "He was very happy to host us. He showed us around every day we were there. He killed an animal and we had a party, he invited everyone."
Ghanem gradually opens up and talks about her childhood in the coastal Syrian city of Latakia, where she grew up in an Alawite family, representatives of one of the Shiite branches of Islam. Syrian cuisine is superior to Saudi Arabia, she says, as is the climate on the Mediterranean coast, where the warm, humid summer air contrasts sharply with the acetylene heat of Jeddah in June. Ghanem moved to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1950s, and Osama was born in Riyadh in 1957. Three years later, she divorced his father and married al-Attas, who was then in charge of the fledgling bin Laden empire in the early 1960s. Bin Laden's natural father had a total of 54 children from at least 11 wives.
From the very beginning we knew [it was Osama] within the first 48 hours. From the youngest to the oldest, we were all ashamed
When Ghanem goes to rest in the next room, Osama's half-brothers continue their conversation. It is important to remember, they note, that the mother is rarely an objective witness. "It's been 17 years [since 9/11] and she's still trying to deny a lot of things about Osama," Ahmad says. "She loved him very much and refuses to blame him. Instead, she blames others. She only knows him as a good boy." "the side we all saw. She never got to know the jihadist side of him."
“I was shocked, stunned,” he says now about the first reports from New York [after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001]. "It was a very strange feeling. From the very beginning, we knew [it was Osama], within the first 48 hours. From the youngest to the oldest, we were all ashamed. We knew that we would all face terrible consequences. All Our family returned from abroad to Saudi Arabia." They were scattered throughout Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Europe. "There was a travel ban in Saudi Arabia. They tried their best to maintain control over the family," Ahmad says. The family says they were all questioned by authorities and were banned from leaving the country for a time. Nearly two decades later, the bin Ladens are free to move within and outside the kingdom.
The country that inspired jihadism
The formation of Osama bin Laden's personality in Jeddah took place during the years of relative freedom of the 1970s, before the Iranian revolution of 1979, aimed at exporting Shiite fanaticism to the Sunni Arab world. Since then, Saudi Arabia's rulers have enforced a hardline interpretation of Sunni Islam - similar to that widely practiced in the Arabian Peninsula since the 18th century era of theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. In 1744, al-Wahhab entered into a pact with the then ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Saud, allowing his family to manage the affairs of the state while the hardline clergy determined the national character.
For many decades, Saudi Arabia remained an extremely conservative country, where religion set the tone for public life / Photo by EPA
When the modern kingdom was proclaimed in 1932, both sides—the country's clerics and rulers—remained too powerful to overthrow each other, locking the state and its citizens into a society defined by hyper-conservative views: a strict separation of unrelated men and women ; uncompromising gender roles; intolerance towards other religions; and unwavering adherence to doctrinal teachings - all dogmas were sealed with the Saudi seal.
Many believe that it was this alliance that directly contributed to the emergence of global terrorism. The worldview of al-Qaeda - and its branches, Islamic State(ISIS) - was largely shaped by the scriptures of Wahhabism; and Saudi clerics were widely accused of encouraging the jihadist movement that expanded during the 1990s and was led by Osama bin Laden.
Al-Qaeda's worldview was largely shaped by the scriptures of Wahhabism; and Saudi clerics have been widely accused of encouraging the jihadist movement
In 2018, Saudi Arabia's new leadership wants to draw a line under that era and introduce what bin Salman calls "moderate Islam." He sees it as essential to the survival of a state where a large, restless and often disaffected segment of the young population has had little access to entertainment, social life or personal freedoms for nearly four decades. Saudi Arabia's new rulers believe such rigid social norms enforced by clerics could fuel extremists who exploit such frustrations.
Reforms are beginning to permeate many aspects of Saudi society; Among the most notable was the June repeal of the women's driving ban. There have been changes in the labor market and in the bloated public sector; cinemas opened, and the fight against corruption began in the private sector and some sectors of government. The government also says it has stopped all funding for Wahhabi organizations outside the kingdom, which it has supported for missionary purposes for nearly four decades.
Such radical shock therapy is slowly being absorbed throughout the country, where local communities - after decades of the triumph of uncompromising doctrines - do not always know what to do with it. Contradictions abound: some officials and institutions shun conservatism, while others are fully open to it. Meanwhile, political freedoms remain prohibited: power has become more centralized and dissent is systematically suppressed.
Saudi intelligence on bin Laden: 'He was told to stop'
Bin Laden's legacy remains one of the kingdom's most pressing concerns. I met with Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud, who headed the Saudi intelligence [General Intelligence Service] for 24 years, from 1977 to September 1, 2001 (10 days before the September 11 attacks), at his villa in Jeddah. An erudite man in his 70s, Turki wears a thobe with green Saudi flag cufflinks on his sleeves. “There are two Osama bin Ladens,” he tells me. “One before the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and the other after it. The first was a very idealistic mujahideen. He was not a fighter. By his own admission, he once fainted during battle, and when he came to his senses, the Soviet attack on his position had already been repelled."
At the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, the figure of bin Laden was one of the most discussed in the world / Photo EPA
As bin Laden left Afghanistan for Sudan, and as his relationship with Saudi Arabia soured, it was Turki who spoke to him on behalf of the kingdom. Since 9/11, these direct relationships have come under scrutiny. Then - as 17 years later - the relatives of some of the 2,976 killed and more than 6,000 wounded in New York and Washington refused to believe that a country that exported such a hyper-conservative form of faith had nothing to do with the consequences [of such "export" "].
Of course, bin Laden acted in Afghanistan with the knowledge and support of the Saudi state, which opposed the Soviet occupation. Along with America, the Saudis armed and supported those groups that fought against it. The young mujahid took with him a small part of the family fortune, which he used to gain influence. When he returned to Jeddah, inspired by the struggle and defeat of the Soviet Union, he was a different man, Turki says.
There are two Osama bin Ladens. One - before the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and the second - after it. The first one was a very idealistic mujahideen. He wasn't a fighter
“Since 1990, he developed rather political views. He wanted to expel the communists and South Yemen Marxists from Yemen. I accepted him and told him that it would be better not to interfere. The mosques of Jeddah exploited the example of Afghanistan,” by these words Turki means a narrow interpretation of faith, which is professed by the Taliban. "He incited them [the believers in Saudi Arabia]. He was told to stop," says former head kingdom intelligence.
"He had an impenetrable face," Turki continues. "He never grimaced or smiled. In 1992, 1993, there was a huge meeting in Peshawar organized by the government of [Pakistan Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif." Bin Laden had by this time been sheltered by Afghan tribal leaders. "It was a call for Muslim solidarity to force all the leaders of the Muslim world to stop at each other's throats. I saw him [Osama bin Laden] there too. Our eyes met, but we did not speak. He did not return to the kingdom [to Saudi Arabia ] He went to Sudan, where he built a honey business and financed the road."
In exile, bin Laden's propaganda activities expanded. "He sent faxes to everyone. He was very critical. The family made attempts to dissuade him - through envoys and so on - but they were unsuccessful. He probably felt that the government did not take him seriously," says Turki ibn Faisal al Saud.
By 1996, bin Laden returned to Afghanistan. According to Turki, Saudi Arabia knew he was in trouble and wanted him back. Turki flew to Kandahar to meet with the then head of the Taliban, Mullah Omar. He said: "I don't mind handing him over, but he helped the Afghan people a lot." He also said that bin Laden was given asylum [in Afghanistan] according to Islamic injunctions. Two years later, in September 1998, Turki flew to Afghanistan again, and this time his demand was decisively rejected. “At this meeting he [Mullah Omar] was a different person,” says Turki. “Much more withdrawn and sweating profusely.” Instead of maintaining an acceptable tone, Omar said: "How can you persecute this worthy man who dedicated his life to helping Muslims?" Turki claims that he warned Omar that his actions were harming the people of Afghanistan, and he left.
Family curse
The family visit to Kandahar took place the following year, shortly after an American missile strike on one of bin Laden's hideouts - in response to al-Qaeda attacks on the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. It seems that the family's immediate circle had no difficulty in finding their relative, while Saudi and Western intelligence tried in vain to do so.
Home video footage of Osama bin Laden's family, released by the American CIA after his death:
According to officials in Riyadh, London and Washington, bin Laden had by then become the world's No. 1 counterterrorism target - a man determined to use Saudi citizens to drive a wedge between Eastern and Western civilizations. “There is no doubt that he specifically targeted Saudi citizens for the 9/11 plot,” a British intelligence officer tells The Guardian. “He was convinced that it would turn the West against his home country. He did succeed in fomenting a war, but not the one that expected."
Turki claims that in the months leading up to 9/11, his intelligence agency knew something alarming was planned: "In the summer of 2001, I received warning that something stunning was going to happen to the Americans, the British, the French and the Arabs. We didn't know where exactly, but We knew something was cooking."
If Salman [Saudi Arabia's reformist leader] doesn't break through, there will be many more Osamas. And I'm not sure that they [the bin Laden family] will be able to get rid of the curse
Bin Laden remains a popular figure in some parts of the country, highly regarded by those who believe he was doing God's will. However, the depth of support is difficult to measure. Those in his immediate family circle were allowed to return to the kingdom: at least two of Osama's wives (one of whom was with him in Abbottabad when Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces), and their children now live in Jeddah .
"We had a very good relationship with Mohammed bin Nayef Al Saud (the former crown prince," Osama's half-brother Ahmad tells me as servants set the dining table nearby. "He allowed the wives and children to return." But for now they only have freedom of movement within the city - they cannot leave the kingdom.
Osama's mother rejoins the conversation. “I talk to his harem almost every week,” she says. “They live nearby.”
Osama's half-sister Fatima al-Attas was not present at our meeting. From her home in Paris, she later wrote to e-mail, which strongly objects to an interview with her mother and has asked that the conversation be re-arranged through her. Despite the agreement of her brothers and stepfather, she was sure that her mother was forced to talk. Ghanem herself, however, insisted that she was happy to talk and could talk longer. Probably, such disagreements are a sign of the difficult position of the family in the kingdom.
I ask the family about youngest son bin Laden, 29-year-old Hamza, who is believed to be in Afghanistan. Last year the US officially designated him a "global terrorist" and he appears to have taken over the mantle from his father, under the leadership of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the new leader of al-Qaeda and former deputy to Osama bin Laden. Hamza's uncles shake their heads. "We thought it was all over," Hassan says. "Then I heard Hamza say, 'I'm going to avenge my father.' I don't want to go through that again. If Hamza were in front of me now, I would said to him: “God is leading you. Think twice about what you are doing. Don't follow in your father's footsteps. You tap into the worst parts of your soul."
29-year-old Hamza bin Laden, Osama's son, followed in his footsteps:
The continued rise of Hamza bin Laden may overshadow the family's efforts to move past its past. It may also hinder efforts crown prince Saudi Arabia open new era, in which bin Laden is relegated to the role of a generational anomaly, and in which the rigid doctrines once sanctioned by the kingdom no longer lend legitimacy to extremism. While Saudi Arabia has attempted change before, it has never been as extensive as the current reforms. How firmly Muhammad bin Salman will stand up to a society that has been indoctrinated with such an uncompromising worldview remains an open question.
Saudi Arabia's allies are optimistic, but also sound a note of caution. A British intelligence officer The Guardian spoke to told me: "If Salman doesn't break through, there will be many more Osamas. And I'm not sure they [the bin Laden family] will be able to break the curse."
Abbottabad, Pakistan) is a former leader of the al-Qaeda organization responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, as well as many other terrorist attacks. He was on the list of "most wanted terrorists" MostWantedTerrorists) FBI in connection with the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa. From 2001 to 2011, it was one of the main targets of the international “war on terrorism” campaign.
On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was killed by members of a US Navy and CIA SEAL unit at a hideout in the city of Abbottabad on orders from President Barack Obama as part of a covert sting operation. Soon after, bin Laden's body was buried at sea. On May 6, al-Qaeda confirmed his death, vowing revenge.
Biography
His birth dates back to the second half of the 1950s, probably 1957; place of birth - Saudi Arabia, Jeddah or Riyadh. His father is Mohammed bin Laden (1908-1967) - a Saudi entrepreneur of Yemeni origin who made a fortune in the construction business, the founder of the Saudi bin Laden Group, who had close ties with the Saudi royal family. The bin Laden family, whose prosperity was started by Osama's father, is now one of the richest and most influential in Saudi Arabia; The Saudi bin Laden Group controls a significant part of the Saudi economy in areas such as construction, oil production, shipbuilding, media and telecommunications. Osama's mother is Aliya Ghanem, according to other data from Hamid, marriage with her became for Mohammed bin Laden, according to various sources, the 4th, 10th or 11th; In total, Mohammed bin Laden has 52 or 57 children. Osama's parents divorced shortly after his birth, and Osama grew up with his mother and her new husband, Muhammad al-Attas. Osama's father died in a plane crash in 1967 (according to other sources, in 1968 or 1970). Osama grew up in Hijaz. He studied at the Al-Tagher school, then at the King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah (there is conflicting information about the specialty he received at the university - construction engineer, or economics and management, or public administration). Even during his school years he participated in an Islamist circle. At the university I met the Islamic theologian and ideologist of jihad Abdullah Azzam. In his youth he served for some time in the Saudi Sharia police.
During the civil war in Afghanistan
It is reported that around this time Osama bin Laden began a career in the construction business, which did not prevent him from joining the Afghan Jihad movement, where he eventually became one of the prominent figures. He later recalled: “When the invasion of Afghanistan began, I was angry and immediately went there - I arrived in Afghanistan at the very end of 1979.”
In January 1980, he visited the Pakistani city of Lahore, where he established his first contacts with the leaders of Islamic groups opposing the Kabul government. On a regular basis, he began to provide financial support from personal funds to the leaders of the Afghan resistance. Together with the leader of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, Abdullah Azzam, bin Laden created the Bureau of Services (Maktab al-Khidamat) and an organization to recruit Muslim volunteers from Arab countries. Bin Laden paid for the arrival of Mujahideen volunteers in Afghanistan and their training in training camps, where they were trained in terrorist and sabotage activities. In addition, he participated in battles against Soviet troops, commanding a detachment of 2,000 people (most of whom were volunteers from Arab countries).
According to former CIA officer Michael Scheuer. MichaelScheuer), who led the bin Laden case, and by 2011 a professor at the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, American intelligence knew about bin Laden's activities in Afghanistan against Soviet troops, but never had contact with him.
The creation of al-Qaeda
In 1989, Osama bin Laden returned to the family contracting and construction business, headquartered in Jeddah, but his organization continued to help the opposition movement in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. During the Iraqi aggression against Kuwait, Osama prepared a plan to defend his native country from the invasion of Iraqi troops and even offered the services of his mujahideen. However, at this time the United States and its allies came to the aid of the Gulf countries. Bin Laden spoke with slogans of active opposition to the American “occupation” of the “holy land” - Saudi Arabia and Israel. He also accused the Saudi rulers of collaborating with the United States. Bin Laden's anti-government activities prompted the Saudi authorities to expel him from the country in 1991, and on March 5, 1994, he was completely deprived of Saudi citizenship. Osama bin Laden moved to Sudan.
Sudanese period of life. Business
In 1991, bin Laden moved to Sudan, where Islamists came to power. Having settled in Sudan, he was mainly engaged in business. He began to build highways in Sudan. Using the latest equipment and construction technologies, in the shortest possible time bin Laden laid 1,200 kilometers (a quarter of the total length) of good roads across the desert, providing work for tens of thousands of Sudanese and for the first time connecting the country's villages and towns with the capital, Khartoum and Port Sudan. In addition to this business, bin Laden became involved in pharmacology, building the largest pharmaceutical plant in Africa in Khartoum, and with it a research center. Another area of bin Laden's activity in Sudan was the slave trade. This fishery has long flourished in Sudan. But after the National Islamic Front came to power, it acquired unprecedented proportions. The United States demanded that the Sudanese authorities expel bin Laden, and on May 18, 1996, he and his family moved to Afghanistan on a plane from the Afghan company Ariana.
Terrorist activities
After the end of the Afghan war, Osama decided to continue the “gazavat” against the United States. He sponsored the fight of Somali militants against US and UN troops in 1993.
Osama bin Laden was included in the FBI's list of 10 most wanted criminals as a suspect in organizing the bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), which occurred on August 7, 1998 - exactly on the eighth anniversary of deployment of American troops in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. The attack in Nairobi killed 213 people and injured about 5,000 people. Among the dead, according to various sources, there were 12 or 13 Americans.
From that day on, US intelligence agencies designated Osama bin Laden the status of "terrorist number one", seized his bank accounts and promised to issue a five million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest. At this time, Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan and was considered a guest of the Taliban movement, which controlled 2/3 of Afghanistan. Using the pretext of a tradition of hospitality, the Taliban refused to actively cooperate with the US government. Negotiations with the Taliban on the subject of extradition eventually led to the fact that the Taliban promised to either try Osama bin Laden under Sharia law, or promised to hand him over to a neutral Islamic country, but this only if the necessary evidence of his involvement in the terrorist attacks was provided.
He appears more as a mastermind and instigator than as the leader of a terrorist network. All those arrested during the investigation of the terrorist attacks referred only to his calls to fight the Americans... Thus, Frank Anderson, who led CIA operations in the Middle East in the mid-90s, argued in the New York Times that bin Laden actually controls only a small part of the nearly $300 million that Washington believes he got from the family capital, and even that has almost dried up. Legend has it that he fought bravely against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. However, Anderson is convinced that bin Laden is not a fighter, but a kind of philanthropist who did a lot of charitable work in Peshawar (Pakistan) among Afghan refugees.
The US government rejected the Taliban's proposal and preferred military action to the diplomatic channels available to them. About two weeks after the embassy bombings, on August 20, the US Air Force launched airstrikes in Taliban-controlled eastern Afghanistan. There were strikes on suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, as well as strikes on a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan where al-Qaeda was allegedly producing chemical weapons. Evidence that the Sudanese factory produced anything other than medicine was weak enough at the time to warrant such a strike. The missile and bomb attacks on Afghanistan also did not achieve the desired results, and, as some critics believed, all these actions were a pre-planned petty political maneuver by Bill Clinton, undertaken in order to divert public attention from the scandalous case of Monica Lewinsky - the court hearing of this case , where Monica gave her testimony about her relationship with the president, took place on the same day.[
It is believed that he also actively supported Islamists operating in the North Caucasus, in Central Asia and other regions of the world. It was noted with reference to the FBI that bin Laden founded a fund to subsidize terrorists.
In 1996, bin Laden issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to destroy American troops in Saudi Arabia and Somalia. In May of that year, Sudan expelled bin Laden, largely in response to the threat of UN sanctions, due to the alleged complicity of Sudanese authorities in the 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia. A month later, bin Laden moved to Afghanistan, where he continued his Islamic extremist activities. In 1998, he issued a second fatwa ordering Muslims to kill American civilians.
In the summer of 2001, Mullah Omar noted that Bin Laden did not have the right to issue fatwas because he had not received a full Islamic education.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
During the Bosnian War, Osama bin Laden visited Sarajevo. Bin Laden and his Tunisian assistant Mehrez Aoduni received Bosnian citizenship in 1993. According to the Bosnian press in 1999, bin Laden's passport was issued by the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegovic, as a token of gratitude for the Mujahideen's support for his desire to create a "fundamentalist islamic republic"in the Balkans. Bin Laden financed the transfer of mercenaries from the Arab world to Bosnia with the help of Sudanese business partners.
Statements about bin Laden's presence in Bosnia were also made by foreign journalists. A journalist for the German magazine Der Spiegel, Renate Flottau, claims to have seen bin Laden in Sarajevo when he visited Bosnian Muslim President Izetbegovic in 1993. On February 3, 2006, at the ICTY, in the trial of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, British journalist, Guardian and London Times correspondent Eve-Ann Prentice testified under oath that in November 1994, the Bosnian President and Herzegovina, Aliya Izetbegovic was personally visited by Osama Bin Laden. Prentice stated that she saw bin Laden entering Izetbegovic's office shortly before interviewing the latter.
Albania and Kosovo
Osama bin Laden first visited Albania as a guest of the country's president, Sali Berisha, in 1994 or 1995, telling the government that he headed a thriving Saudi humanitarian aid agency. The meeting between Sali Berisha and bin Laden was also attended by Hashim Thaci, Ramush Haradinaj and the former chief of the Albanian secret police, Bashkim Gazidede.
In December 1998, the head of Albanian intelligence, Fatos Klosi, said that bin Laden had personally visited Albania and represented one of the fundamentalist groups that sent fighters to participate in military operations in Kosovo. Klosi expressed the opinion that terrorists have already infiltrated various parts of Europe from bases in Albania, using illegal migration flows. Interpol, in turn, warned that Islamists have great opportunities to acquire false documents, since more than one hundred thousand blank Albanian passports were stolen during the 1997 riots. The involvement of bin Laden's operatives in terrorist activities in Kosovo was confirmed by Claude Kader, a French national who said he was a member of bin Laden's Albanian network. He stated that he traveled to Albania to train and arm militants in Kosovo. In 2000, bin Laden also worked in Kosovo, planning terrorist attacks during the Presevo Valley conflict.
North Caucasus
Osama bin Laden has been actively involved in the Chechen conflict since 1995, sending al-Qaeda agents to the North Caucasus and sponsoring Chechen terrorists.
Bin Laden's representative in the North Caucasus was the field commander Khattab, whom he met back in 1987. The connection with bin Laden gave Khattab access to unlimited financial resources and allowed him to gain strong positions in Chechnya. On the other hand, the Chechen separatists themselves voice denials of links to al-Qaeda. In particular, Akhmed Zakayev, at that time the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ichkeria, denied the connection between the Chechen separatists and Al-Qaeda (during the kidnapping of Russian diplomats in Iraq on June 6, 2006), and from his words it was clear that Al-Qaeda and Chechen separatists do not cooperate.
After the statement by the Iraqi militants, the head of the Ichkerian Foreign Ministry, Akhmed Zakayev, now living in London, categorically rejected any connection between the Chechen separatists and al-Qaeda and demanded the release of the diplomats without any conditions. “Their demands look naive to say the least. Especially if you remember how Russia acted when releasing hostages in the Dubrovka theater and in Beslan,” Zakayev said. In addition, he did not rule out that by putting forward their demands, the group associated with Al-Qaeda and Al-Qaeda itself tried to discredit the movement of the Chechen separatists.
As a rule, Osama bin Laden clearly declares his intentions to individual countries, using the media to communicate the reasons for possible attacks and gives time to think. But in the event of a successful sabotage, he does not always immediately report his involvement. As far as we know, most of the messages are addressed to the United States, Europe and the Muslim world. Based on these messages, it can be judged that Russia is not included in the active sphere of interests of Osama bin Laden. He did not take responsibility for preparing terrorist attacks on Russian territory, but the main thing is that his addressed messages to the CIS countries do not exist. Although Russia’s participation in the war with Muslims in Chechnya is occasionally mentioned by him as something negative, nevertheless, given his eloquence and many years of experience in waging an information war against the United States, such messages in context can only be considered as a small illustration of the situation in which the countries of the Muslim world find themselves .
§ Today it is unclear to what extent Osama bin Laden controlled al-Qaeda; it cannot be ruled out that some of the cells and people left their subordination and began to carry out work that no one assigned them. Thus, references to the existence and activities of groups associated with al-Qaeda may have appeared in the press, although in fact the connections of such organizations with Osama bin Laden and with the al-Qaeda agenda may be very relative. For example, it is necessary to remember that the George W. Bush administration spoke about the connections of Saddam Hussein with Osama bin Laden, then this information was denied, but everyone knows well what consequences such statements led to.
According to a source who can be called close to Osama bin Laden, it seems that after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden lost interest in the USSR and Russia as an enemy and almost completely switched his attention to solving the problem of the Arab population of Palestine and the problem of the American military presence in the territories of Muslim countries. This can be judged by what Hamid Mir says, a Pakistani journalist who is called in quotation marks “the staff biographer of Osama bin Laden” (indirectly, Mir’s words are confirmed by an analysis of Osama bin Laden’s own messages).
“Now I can say for sure that Osama bin Laden is not a fighter for Islam. His main and only goal is a war with America,” says Mir and explains: “He is not at war with the West. There is a stereotype - a war between the West and the rest of the world. No, he is not at war with China, Russia, France, Japan. All he has in his head now is America.”
The entire 6-hour interview was filmed by one of bin Laden's guards. The film was transferred to Islamabad after the journalist returned. When Hamid Mir asked the terrorist why he was so opposed to the Americans, he replied that only now he realized that the USSR and Russia were not a threat to Muslims, since the real enemy of Muslims was the United States. He said the US is the enemy of anyone who tries to compete with it economically or politically. “This is a new imperialist force,” he said, “that wants to control the whole world.” The Americans were very successful in using Muslims against the USSR, and now they want to use them against China, since China is a new threat to the United States.
central Asia
Since 1995, Osama bin Laden has repeatedly held meetings with one of the leaders of the Uzbek Islamists, Tahir Yuldashev, and helped him establish contacts with the leaders of the Taliban movement. Another Uzbek Islamist leader, Juma Namangani, received $3 million a year in funding from bin Laden.
Connections with Saddam Hussein
The US government has repeatedly accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of collaborating with al-Qaeda. The press wrote that Saddam Hussein met with Osama bin Laden and intended to transfer weapons into the hands of terrorists mass destruction. These accusations became the main reason for the start of the war in Iraq. Subsequently, on September 9, 2006, these statements were refuted in a published report by the US Senate Intelligence Committee. Moreover, it turned out that Saddam Hussein not only had no connections with Al-Qaeda, but was at enmity with it. This conclusion, which refuted George Bush's statements about the long-standing ties of the Saddam regime with terrorist organizations, significantly undermined the authority of the US government in the role of an international arbiter, and also further compromised the quality of the work of such a serious organization as the CIA. Critics have noted that with this approach, unverified accusations of cooperation with terrorists could now become a reason for invasion of other countries in power by a regime that is disliked by the US government. Citing information provided by the FBI, the report said Hussein rejected Osama bin Laden's request for help in 1995.
Assassination of Ahmad Shah Masood
After the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, the armed forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud retreated to the Panjshir Gorge area, where they held the line, preventing the Taliban from going further north. Ahmad Shah Massoud headed the Northern Alliance, an anti-Taliban military-political coalition that controlled part of the country over the next few years.
On September 9, 2001, in the village of Khoja Bahauddin, Takhar province, Masud received two Arab journalists. During the interview, an explosive device planted in the television camera went off. Masood died from his wounds.
In August 2002, the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Afghanistan under the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Khaksar, stated that Massoud was killed on the personal orders of Osama bin Laden.
Osama bin Laden's name was largely unknown until the world's attention was drawn to him by the US FBI's announcement that he was considered the prime suspect in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, during of which three of the four passenger airliners hijacked in mid-air were aimed at the World War II buildings shopping center and the Pentagon, and the fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania. As a result, the skyscraper, adjacent buildings and one wing of the Pentagon were destroyed, killing about three thousand people. On September 27, 2001, the FBI released photographs of 19 terrorists, accompanied by information about their possible nationality, age and possible nicknames and aliases. The FBI's investigation into the 9/11 attacks was the largest investigation in the agency's history, with an operation under code name PENTTBOM More than seven thousand employees were involved. The US government decided that al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden, was responsible for the attacks after the FBI said there was evidence of al-Qaeda's involvement " clear and undeniable" The UK government came to the same conclusion.
Osama bin Laden's declaration of jihad against America, his 1998 fatwa, and numerous other calls to kill Americans were seen as evidence that he had significant motives for carrying out such a terrorist attack.
Bin Laden initially denied his participation in the events that took place, but later confirmed it. On September 16, 2001, bin Laden declared his non-involvement in the attacks in a broadcast on the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera, in particular, he said: “I emphasize that I did not carry out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation.”. This speech was broadcast throughout the United States, as well as around the world.
§ Since the link has not been preserved, it makes sense to mention that, according to other sources, this was a text message read out by an announcer on Al-Jazeera. It was probably a fax message - the same or a similar message signed by Osama bin Laden was sent by someone to the bureau of the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) on the same day.
The first video depicting Osama bin Laden appeared on the Al-Jazeera channel only on October 7 (indirect confirmation of this is in the official list of the Al-Jazeera channel dedicated to Osama bin Laden's messages), it contains ultimatum wishes to the United States and satisfaction was expressed with the actions of the terrorists, but Osama bin Laden did not say a word about his involvement (or non-involvement).
Prior to this, Osama bin Laden’s non-involvement was officially announced by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaif, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan (September 13), an unnamed close assistant of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan (September 12 - by telephone to Palestinian journalist Jamal Ismail, who is chief of the Islamabad bureau of Abu Dhabi Television), as well as allegedly Osama bin Laden himself in an interview published on September 28 in the Daily Ummat (Karachi) to some unknown journalist under unclear circumstances. There were other statements made on behalf of Osama bin Laden:
In this regard, the reaction of Osama bin Laden to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington is very indicative. A few hours after the explosions, bin Laden's representative in Europe, Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, said that such actions are prohibited by Islam, but "valuable lessons can be learned from them" and warned of the consequences of launching military action against Afghanistan. A week after the events, on September 18, 2001, Osama bin Laden's plenipotentiary Suleiman Abu-Ghayat called into a talk show on the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera and expressed admiration for the “martyrs” who carried out these terrorist attacks, but denied the participation of al-Qaeda. in their preparation and implementation. On September 24, bin Laden sent a fax to Al Jazeera expressing grief over the deaths of anti-American protesters in Karachi, without mentioning the events of September 11, 2001 in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. A few days later, on September 28, 2001, the Islamist Urdu newspaper Ummat, published in Karachi, published the text of a conversation with bin Laden, where he denied any involvement in the attacks: “I have already said that I did not participate in the September 11 attacks in the United States. “I knew nothing about these operations and I do not think it is acceptable to kill innocent women and children.”
The reliability of the words of all sources before the appearance of Osama bin Laden on Al-Jazeera on October 7, 2001 is almost difficult to verify, moreover, they contain direct contradictions in relation to previous statements and fatwas of Osama bin Laden with his ultimatum demands to The United States, which can formally be considered a threat.
However, in an interview broadcast on Al Jazeera on October 7, 2001, Osama bin Laden, having the opportunity to directly declare his non-involvement in the events of 9/11, did not do so. In addition, in this interview, he uttered new ultimatums to the United States, after which George Bush, through his press service, stated that Osama bin Laden actually took responsibility for the terrorist attacks. However, in an interview with Hamid Mir (November 7, 2001), Osama bin Laden noted that:
“The US has no serious evidence against us. They only have assumptions. It is unfair to start bombing with only these assumptions.”
In November 2001, US occupation forces in Afghanistan discovered a videotape of bin Laden talking to Khaledd Al-Harbi in a destroyed house in Jalalabad. In this video, bin Laden confirms that he knew about the attacks in advance and was directly in charge of the terrorists. The footage was widely broadcast beginning on December 13, 2001.
Osama bin Laden: The brothers who carried out this operation, they all knew that it would be a suicide attack, and we sent them to America, but they did not know anything about the operation itself, not even a single letter. But they were trained, and we didn't tell them the details until they were there, until they had to board.
On December 27, 2001, bin Laden released another video. In this video he stated that " Terrorism against America is commendable because it is a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop supporting Israel, which is killing our people." and also briefly mentioned his responsibility for the September 11 attacks.
In March 2002, Osama's younger brother Sheikh Ahmed claimed in an interview with CNN that Osama could not have been the organizer of the September 11 attacks in the United States: “He is my brother, I know him. I lived with him for many years and I know how much he fears God.”
Shortly before the 2004 presidential elections in the United States, in another video message, Osama bin Laden publicly confirmed the participation of al-Qaeda in organizing the 2001 terrorist attacks, and also stated that he had a direct connection to this. He also said that the attacks were carried out " because we are a free people who do not accept injustice and we want to return freedom to our nation" In this tape, obtained by Al Jazeera on October 30, 2004, bin Laden says he had direct control over 19 of the hijackers. He also reported: " I and Commander-in-Chief Mohammed Atta, may Allah have mercy on him, agreed that the entire operation should be completed in no more than 20 minutes, until Bush and his administration noticed what was happening».
Counter-terrorism operation in Afghanistan
On October 7, the United States and Great Britain launched missile attacks on Taliban targets in Afghanistan, which served as the beginning of the military Operation Enduring Freedom. The Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera broadcast Osama bin Laden's speech. In his address he stated: “Allah has hit America in one of its most vulnerable places. America is gripped by fear from north to south, from west to east. I thank Allah for this".
Drug business
Osama bin Laden made the drug business one of his most important sources of funding. He purchased modern equipment and invited chemical specialists; his main drug laboratories and warehouses were located in eastern Afghanistan, near the city of Khost.
Search for the terrorist
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden's death has been announced six times. He was first declared dead in December 2001, shortly after large-scale American bombing of the Tora Bora area in eastern Afghanistan. Subsequently, it was alleged that bin Laden was hiding in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. $50 million was promised for his head. For about ten years, the Americans and their allies could not detect bin Laden. From time to time, his appeals to his comrades were distributed through the media.
For example, on April 23, 2006, in his audio message, which was broadcast through the Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera, Osama bin Laden again voiced his determination to fight against the infidels, “crusaders and Zionists waging war against Muslims.”
On September 23, 2006, a French newspaper published a document presented as a report from the Republic's intelligence services, which noted that, according to Saudi intelligence, Osama bin Laden died of typhus in Pakistan on August 23. However, this information was not subsequently confirmed. Pakistani President Musharraf said that bin Laden may be hiding in the Afghan province of Kunar under cover. field commander Hekmatyara.
Shortly before her death, on November 2, 2007, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said in an interview on Al Jazeera that Osama bin Laden was dead and killed by Omar Sheikh.
On February 9, 2008, based on information from Washington, a statement appeared in the media that Osama bin Laden was hiding in the Pakistani city of Quetta along with the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, from where he was leading the militants.
On August 12, 2010, a US military court sentenced Osama bin Laden's former cook to 14 years in prison. Last month, at his trial in Guantanamo Bay, al-Qosi, who is Sudanese, pleaded guilty to ties to al-Qaeda and providing material assistance to terrorists in the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Appearance and character
Osama bin Laden was often described as a tall man; The FBI considers him tall and thin: height - 193-195 cm and weight - about 75 kg. Skin color - olive. Bin Laden is right-handed, but has poor vision in his right eye and is forced to use his left eye when he needs to clearly distinguish objects in the distance, including taking aim. The explanation for this is simple: when Osama bin Laden was still a boy, he was forging something out of metal one day, and metal shavings got into his right eye. the injury turned out to be very serious, and he was hastily taken to London to be seen by a specialist. The doctors' diagnosis upset everyone. They said Osama bin Laden would no longer be able to see well out of his right eye. Over the years, he learned to hide his shortcomings. he preferred to be considered left-handed than to know that one of his eyes could barely distinguish objects. And the only reason he shot while holding the rifle on the left side was because his right eye was practically blind. And as a rule, he walked with a stick. He wore a white turban, which is a traditional male headdress in Saudi Arabia.
It is believed that Osama bin Laden spoke only Arabic. In 2004 and 2005, two books were published in the United States with a collection of lectures, sermons and letters of Osama bin Laden. The author of at least one of the books (Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden), Bruce Lawrence, acknowledges that Osama bin Laden may be the new great Arab poet and thinker whose views have been greatly misunderstood by the world.
The author of the collection himself believes that he has discovered for the world a magnificent example of Arabic rhetoric of modern times. According to Bruce Lawrence, the work of Osama bin Laden is comparable to the best examples of the recognized master of oratory Gamal Abdel Nasser, the first president of Egypt.
I don’t really want to talk about it, but I have to say it anyway: he is a master of Arabic literature,” admits Bruce Lawrence, a professor at Duke University and the largest American authority on Islam, a little shyly, as if through “impossible.”
In Russian, the translation of only one work done in a literary style is so far known - this is “Message to the Resistance Units in Iraq” dated October 22, 2007:
“Message to the Resistance Forces in Iraq” is composed in a specific style, using saj - a special meter of rhymed and rhythmic prose; it is replete with archaic vocabulary and historical and military allusions. The Institute of Religion and Politics considers it necessary to do something that no other research center in the world does - to acquaint visitors to the website “Islam and Politics - Institute of Religion and Politics” with the form of bin Laden’s addresses and for this purpose publishes a translation of the “Message”.
He was distinguished by his excessive religiosity and ambitious character. There is also evidence that bin Laden was a hard worker. The former bodyguard of terrorist number 1, Nasser al-Bahri, in an interview with the British newspaper Daily Telegraph said the following:
“Osama bin Laden is a workaholic. He will always be one move ahead of Western intelligence. His day begins before dawn, when he makes his first prayers, and ends late at night. And all this time he is constantly doing something, never resting. We lived in uncomfortable conditions, but this did not stop him from working, thinking and planning all the time. After the prayer, he begins to organize matters, and then receives prominent people who come to visit, sometimes secretly. But he doesn’t take a single break all day.”
During his years of study at the university, he showed interest in the history of the development of Sharia law. In order to deepen his religious knowledge, he studied with famous theologians of Saudi Arabia, who noted his extraordinary abilities. He was interested in international political life. He was painfully aware of the disunity and defeats of the Arab side in the conflict with Israel. In those around him he despised any manifestations of weakness, passivity, helplessness...
The image of bin Laden, who does not part with his personal machine gun, also gained some fame - in all photographs it is a Soviet AKS74U. According to him, he allegedly took this weapon from the Soviet general he killed. It is possible that Osama received the machine gun of General Pyotr Shkidchenko (father of the former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Vladimir Shkidchenko). In January 1982, his helicopter was shot down by the Mujahideen.
Personal life Family
There are many conflicting rumors about the life of Osama bin Laden, including his family life. There were also contradictions in the official “Report No. 15 of the US Congressional Commission to Investigate Terrorist Attacks on the United States (“9-11 Commission”). Thus, in one case, the report states that Osama bin Laden, being a multimillionaire, spent his fortune on war in Afghanistan, and practically on the next page there is refuting information that Osama bin Laden, contrary to popular belief, did not inherit $300 million after the death of his father, and the jihad was financed mainly by Arab philanthropists.
Contrary to popular belief, bin Laden did not finance al-Qaeda through his wealth or income from his own businesses. In reality, al-Qaeda received money from the network of sponsors it developed over time. Bin Laden never inherited $300 million. Between 1970 and about 1994, he earned about a million dollars a year, which, while a significant sum, was nowhere near the $300 million needed to fund worldwide jihad. According to Saudi officials and bin Laden's relatives, Osama was deprived of a share in the family fortune. Bin Laden also owned several businesses and assets in Sudan, but most were small and not economically viable.
There are also suspicions that some of the false information about Osama bin Laden is being disseminated by the CIA to undermine his authority among Muslims (today, ideological confrontation is considered one of the important measures to combat terrorism associated with Islam).
In addition, the CIA plans included filming “scenes from the life” of the head of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. According to the CIA directors, Osama and his entourage, sitting at a rest around the fire, were supposed to discuss the delights of homosexual sex and the comparative merits of various types of alcoholic drinks.
§ Umm Hamza, a native of Saudi Arabia, “Nasr al-Bahri, Osama's bodyguard from 1997 to 2000 in Kandahar, recalls that Umm Hamza was a favorite of bin Laden because of her deep knowledge of Islamic sciences. Osama often consulted with his wife, who was 8 years older than him. According to a former bodyguard, “Umm Hamza was like a mother to almost all jihadists. She solved their family problems and delivered babies to their wives.” She also taught the Koran to all bin Laden’s children.”
§ Umm Khaled, a native of Saudi Arabia
§ Yemeni Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, whom bin Laden married in the spring of 2000 (she is called bin Laden’s youngest wife)
Bin Laden was married five times. He married his first cousin in 1975. It was rumored that one of his wives was the daughter of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. But in an interview with Hamid Mir, Osama bin Laden said that all of his wives (of which there are three) are of Arab origin, and also said that he was connected with Mullah Omar only by religious duty and mutual respect.
17 sons. Their whereabouts are unknown.
The fourth son, Omar, broke with his father at age 19 and refused to fight with the Taliban. He became involved in the scrap metal trade in Jeddah. He, however, has repeatedly tried to speak to a wider audience in order to show that his father is not a terrorist, but rather a protector, and the very formulation used in relation to him is not correct. Just like Osama bin Laden himself, his son has repeatedly tried to explain that the causes of the conflict lie in aggressive foreign policy The United States itself, according to Omar, the terrorist attacks were the result of despair - the father did not find a better way to achieve his goals. Omar claimed that he had not seen his father since 2000 and was in no way connected with his activities. In 2007, he married British woman Jane Felix-Brown, 24 years older than him, but they were married for only five months. In November 2008, Omar arrived in Madrid, asking for political asylum in Spain, but the Spanish authorities refused him.
The remaining children, most of whom live in Saudi Arabia, are engaged in legal business. According to another source, all the children of Osama bin Laden are mujahideen (that is, people leading the lifestyle of fighters for the triumph of the ideology of Islam). It should also be noted that according to the same source, Osama bin Laden called one interview (published in one of the Arab newspapers) taken from one of his sons a fake.
Other relatives
Osama's brother Yeslam bin Laden lives in Switzerland. According to him, he has not been to Saudi Arabia since 1987 and has not seen his brother since then. In 1974, Yeslam married Carmen, who is half Iranian and half Swiss. The couple separated after 11 years. After the September 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden's former daughter-in-law recounted her meeting with him: “Someone knocked on the door, I instinctively opened it, and this man was standing on the threshold. I barely looked at him, after which he turned away, because my face was uncovered and Osama did not want to look at me. I know Osama was very pious. He is the only one of the brothers who refused to look at me.". The daughter of Yeslam and Carmen, Wafa Dufur, was born in California, lived for some time in Saudi Arabia, after which she was taken first to Switzerland and then to the USA. After the September 11 attacks, she took maiden name her mother, in 2005 she posed half-naked for the men's magazine GQ.
State
Using unconfirmed information, the press widely wrote that Osama bin Laden inherited about 250-300 million US dollars from his father. Because of these widely circulated publications, many people have the wrong image of a money-bag terrorist. Many enterprises in various countries of the world were transferred to Osama bin Laden, including Sudan, Kenya, Yemen, Germany, Great Britain, and the USA. But as stated in the 9-11 Commission Report, such enterprises were often not profitable or profitable. In addition, Osama bin Laden spent his personal fortune to help those most in need in society. In particular, funds were spent on digging wells and providing medical care to the population (children and families of wounded and killed Mujahideen).
It is generally accepted that Islamic terrorism stems from poverty - they say that the underdeveloped countries of the Middle East are terribly jealous of Western civilization because they live in poverty. Once they get rich, they will immediately understand that this is not worth doing, and they will begin to build Western democracy in their own country. This is partly true. In an Afghan refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, people who had been living on bare ground for years shouted in my face: “Osama bin Laden is our father! For the USA he is a murderer, but for us he is above all saints! He digs wells, buys medicine for our children, and distributes food to women. He is a true Muslim - we will die for him! However, paradoxically, in the richest oil countries Persian Gulf Bin Laden is even more popular...
Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, in a mansion in the city of Abbottabad, 50 km from Islamabad, as a result of a 4-hour operation by American special forces, as announced by Pakistani intelligence chief Ahmed Pasha on state television.
This information was also confirmed in his speech by US President Barack Obama:
A little over a week ago, I decided that we had enough intelligence and I agreed to carry out the operation. "Under my leadership, an operation was carried out near Islamabad, Pakistan, during which the US military showed incredible courage, eliminated bin Laden and recovered his remains," Obama said.
US President George W. Bush made a promise to kill bin Laden 10 years ago. The US government promised $25 million for the head of “terrorist number one.” In 2007, the US Senate doubled the award to 50 million. According to AFP, citing an unnamed official, along with the terrorist leader, his son, two couriers and a woman who was used by bin Laden's associates as a human shield were killed. Bin Laden's two wives, four sons and four close associates have been arrested. According to the US President, American special forces did not suffer losses in the operation. As it became known later from the testimonies of the participants in the operation, they were not given the task of capturing bin Laden alive.
Two officials from the administration of US President Barack Obama, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Associated Press that DNA tests confirm the identity of Osama bin Laden, killed by US intelligence services, with a probability of up to 99.9%.
According to CNN, Osama bin Laden's body was buried in the Arabian Sea according to Muslim custom, although Islam prohibits burying bodies of those who died at sea. (According to another source, Osama bin Laden was buried at sea in compliance with all necessary Muslim rituals. Burial at sea is practiced extremely rarely by Muslims, but is not prohibited. Typically, this method of burial is used only when it is not possible to bury a Muslim on land within the next 24 hours. The sea was chosen as a grave in order to prevent Osama bin Laden's grave from being turned into a place of pilgrimage (as to a martyr. Some of Osama bin Laden's sons openly expressed their dissatisfaction with this treatment of their father's body).
After the death of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda released his final message to Muslims in which he praised the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and spoke of a "rare historic opportunity" for Muslims to rise up
On the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda released another message. Both the current leader of the group, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the former leader of the extremists, Osama bin Laden, appeared on the screen. According to the authors of the video, bin Laden's speech was recorded shortly before his death.
Image in art
The figure of bin Laden has become popular in youth pop culture: on posters, T-shirts, badges, calendars, etc., not only in Arab countries, but also in Western ones. However, in the pro-Islamic and Arab world there is a completely different attitude towards the popularity of Osama bin Laden.
In particular, on many Arabic-language forums, people set up avatars with his image, and also talk about him with undisguised admiration as the “Lion of Islam,” the protector of the Arab population of Palestine in their fight against Israel. At the same time, the image of Osama bin Laden in American culture is usually presented with a negative or humorous connotation. His personality becomes the object of jokes, caricatures, humorous songs, and entertaining humorous videos.
The film Fahrenheit 9/11 describes the friendships and business contacts in the oil business between Osama and George W. Bush.
The film Body of Lies (2008), directed by Ridley Scott, is about a terrorist group associated with al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The depth of the subordinate position of the head of one influential militant group in relation to Osama bin Laden is shown.
Allusions to bin Laden also appear in Russian TV series " Men's work"(Al Said) and "Special Forces" (Bearded).
The Romanian brewing company Brassov produced Bin Laden beer.
In the American animated series "South Park" South Park) often make fun of Osama and mock him.
In the game Postal 3, Osama is one of the story characters. It is mentioned that Bin Laden retired and opened his own restaurant, but continues to make explosives.
A character in the opera by Russian composers Vladimir Martynov and Leonid Fedorov “Binladen, Saint Francis and the End of the Time of Composers”, the main composition of which “Bin Laden” was included in the music album “Tayal”.
The United States declared a world “war on terrorism”, and Osama Bin Laden (the founder and leader of Al-Qaeda) was identified as the main “terrorist”.
For 10 years they chased him throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan, and only in 2011 they reported that the criminal was caught and killed as a result of a successful special operation by the US armed forces. US President Barack Obama gave a speech on this occasion, and crowds of citizens gathered in front of the White House in Washington, in city centers, rejoicing and hugging.
Justice, finally. triumphed! America's main enemy is dead...
or not?
As always, let's look at 3 simple questions that should answer the question: was the murder of Bin Laden true or another lie from the US government?
1. The official version of how the operation took place.
2. Evidence: photos, videos.
Now you will see how you can suck great victory out of nothing. Let's start with the first question: official version, or what was shown to ordinary citizens.
Official version:
« Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan May 2, 2011 at two o'clock in the morning local time by US special forces. Operation codenamed " Spear of Neptune was authorized by US President Barack Obama and carried out by SEAL Team 6 (known as seals"), part of the US Armed Forces. The location of the special operation is a suburb of Abbottabad (Pakistan). After the attack was completed, the US military delivered body bin Laden to Afghanistan for identification, and then buried him at sea on the same day.«
Okay, let's agree that the operation took place. Or rather, there was “something” in the suburbs of Abbottabad, because we have the following photographs. A modern helicopter crashed in Pakistan, and there were clearly non-Western military personnel nearby, who could not have had such technology. Consequently, the technology is Western, and quite possibly American.
Where did it all happen? Here.
This is Pakistan, 1200 km away from the seashore. where the aircraft carrier “Carl Vinson” stood, from which the body was then hastily “buried.”
Black The location of the helicopter crash has been identified.
Helicopter bowl site— the place where the helicopter crashed.
This estate is the site of a “special operation.”
The house was destroyed less than 1 year later, in February 2012.
Fine. A crashed helicopter, a destroyed house. We can agree with this. Burial on the same day... at sea? How so? They searched for 10 years, frightened the Americans with terrorist attacks, ran after him through the mountains and deserts, and quickly buried him at sea? Was it bin Laden, or the first “corpse” that came along? How was its “truth” established?
Want a dose of fun?
The US military used several methods to accurately identify Osama bin Laden's body.
- Body Measurement: both the corpse and bin Laden were 1.93 m tall; The SEALs did not have a tape measure on site to measure the body, so the SEAL lay down next to the body and the height was determined by comparison. No comments.
- Facial recognition software: photo, ( which no one has ever seen) submitted by the SEALs to CIA headquarters in Langley for facial recognition was a 90-95% match. You will see the photo below.
- Human identification: one or two women from the hideout, including one of bin Laden's wives, identified bin Laden's body after death. Bin Laden's wife also apparently called him by name during the attack, shouting "Osama bin Laden, Osama."
- DNA analysis: The Associated Press and The New York Times reported that bin Laden's body could be identified by DNA testing using tissue and blood samples from his sister, who died of a brain tumor. ABC News reported that "two samples were taken from bin Laden's body: one of those DNA samples was analyzed. That is, just so you understand, they took a tissue sample... converted it into digital form... (?)... and sent the digital file to the USA for analysis... Cool, yes!
Now Americans are confident
that YOU are sure
that they killed Bin Laden.
On the same day, the funeral took place. On May 12, 2011, Carl Vincent found himself on the American aircraft carrier Muslim priest who read religious prayer before burying the body at sea. It looked something like this... The body was gone...
The ends are in the water.
2. Factual evidence: photos, videos.
Now it gets more interesting because the Americans haven't given anything. Can you imagine? — NOTHING.
There is a photo that Pakistani television published when announcing the murder. Here it is, by the way, marked “not for the faint of heart.” And from there, all of them have already been replicated around the world, including Western media. Upon inspection it turned out to be a cheap fake.
Looks like bin Laden's broken face, right? Right. Remember what he looked like? If you are interested in politics, you should know. But literally an hour later, the British news agency The Guardian announced that the photograph was a fake, and of very low quality, and showed everyone the original picture. Photo from 1998, where the lower part, open mouth and beard were taken.
Amazing coincidence, isn't it? Even the color of the hairs on the beard matches, as do the open lips.
About the top? The special forces (military) said that bin Laden was shot in the head, the bullet went through the eye, so one eye should look like that in the picture. They confirmed that he was killed there, as shown in the picture. But there was also top part photographs of where she was taken from, the missing eye, blood, hair, etc.
A photograph of a murdered Arab from Iraq, the top part was taken from it.
It is not surprising that soon the photograph began to be removed from everywhere, but it was copied faster than it was possible to stop the spread of “Photoshop” in the media and on websites.
White House reaction to the revelation?
How is it possible that there was a special operation? An expensive helicopter was crashed, they spent money, and the photo came out with a puncture? Is it possible to get a normal photo so that people don’t have doubts and questions?
To which came the official response from the White House:
« We will not publish anything so as not to provoke Muslims«.
“We won’t publish anything, because we have nothing, and the operation is a fake for Barack Obama’s rating, a guarantee of his election for a second term.”
Do you think where such a dramatic photo urgently appeared, where Obama is sitting with the Secretary of State, along with the Commanders of the Headquarters, as well as the Vice President of the United States in a bunker on May 1, 2011, and intensely looks at the wall? Hilary Clinton even experiences some emotions by covering her mouth with her hand.
Total:
1. No video.
2. No photo.
3. There is no body.
4. There is no evidence.
5. Special forces?
Died!
Every single one of them.
After 3 months (22 people) and 1 year (1 person).
How convenient, right?
3. The fate of those special forces: which special forces?
What about the brave Navy SEALs who eliminated bin Laden. And they were all killed.
In operation May 1, 2011 year in Pakistan took part 23 fighters, which were in two helicopters, you saw one of them in the pictures above. http://lenta.ru/articles/2011/08/05/killbinladem/
August 6, 2011 died 22 special forces, when their transport helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. Even NATO Secretary General Rasmussen expressed his condolences to the families, praising them for their dedication during the famous “special operation.” http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=530720
December 10, 2012 died last participant"special operations" Nicholas Check, shot in the head during the battle. http://lenta.ru/news/2012/12/11/seal/
As you can see, there are no witnesses, no photos, no video, no body.
Bin Laden was not killed!
But this doesn’t stop THESE people from thinking that they are the coolest in the world, because to do this you just need to watch TV and refuse to think.
Leaders of countries, presidents, and sometimes terrorists are removed from office and often done so with pomp. Remember video with the hanging of Saddam Hassein? It's online - look it up. Remember video With last minutes Gaddafi's life? It also exists. Remember photo with the execution of Ceausescu and his wife? It is there too, you can find it!
But, when it comes to US politics, there are secrets upon secrets and complete coincidences. As well as the fact that it was published April 27, 2011, and on the Internet catastrophically fast Rumors began to spread that it was fake and fake. We discussed this fact in the previous article. And after 4 days, May 1, 2011- a “special operation” happens and the entire Internet is filled with “official news”, what Obama is a cool president, how he famously dealt with terrorism, or even better, forget about the evidence and don’t look there.
No wonder that Osama bin Laden learned that he had been killed, watching American television. Do you think this is a joke? The Americans posted this online too! The video was found ( naturally) in that house, which they destroyed and demolished a year later. A bearded grandfather (apparently the same one) in a hat, from the side, looks at himself, and then at the speech of President Obama. This is so interesting. Doubt the authenticity? Copy the link to your browser https://youtu.be/vVMV1uUJQ60?t=1m22s
This is how big politics is done nowadays. Here's the "war on terrorism." It started with a lie about the year, and ended with a lie about the elimination of the main terrorist. Any methods, for the sake of a goal.
“The gullible are controlled only to the extent that they allow themselves to be controlled.”
People who have a face Osama bin Laden firmly cemented in the memory with images of the sinking twin towers in New York, they are more likely to raise a stack of something strong (and with a strong word) not on bin Laden’s birthday, but on May 2. Because it was on May 2, 2011 that Osama Bin Laden ended his life, having received a bullet from an American special forces soldier on the outskirts of Abbottabad, Pakistan. One shot one kill. The fighter fired the second bullet into the already dead “terrorist number one” either as a control shot, or to take his soul away. With the help of video surveillance cameras installed on the fighters’ helmets and drones, the operation was monitored from the White House by the then US President Barack Obama.
Did the leader of radical Islamic militants understand that sooner or later he would be found and destroyed? After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the FBI offered $25 million for information about his whereabouts. All American intelligence was hunting for Osama. And hardly anyone was going to take this monster alive.
"How ironic"
Soon after the terrorist attack in the United States, monstrous in concept, audacity and number of victims (3 thousand people), a guest of one of the episodes of the program of the famous TV presenter Larry King was saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan. Recalling the stages battle path leader of Al Qaeda (an organization banned in the Russian Federation), the Saudi noted: once, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, Osama personally thanked the prince for bringing him together with the Americans, who provided the Mujahideen with invaluable assistance in the fight against the godless communists ... “How ironic,” responded Larry King.
Many details of this “visionary” support still remain top secret. But you can’t hide an sew in a bag. That is, she didn’t sew, of course, but 40 billion dollars, which, as part of the CIA’s Operation Cyclone, came from the United States and Saudi Arabia for jihad against Soviet soldiers, and weapons that were supplied to Afghanistan - up to the Stinger MANPADS, from which the “spirits” shot down Soviet helicopters. Later, in the States themselves, the CIA was even accused of the fact that bin Laden was trained by American specialists in guerrilla warfare and the fight against the Soviets. But it seems that no one perceived Islamic radicals as a real threat to the security of the United States at that time. Moreover, Osama was like “one of their own” for them.
A boy from a good family
Osama's father Mohammed bin Laden- a Saudi construction magnate and multimillionaire, married either in turn or simultaneously to several women - conceived 52 children, Osama was the seventeenth in a row. Mohammed divorced his Syrian mother shortly after the birth of his son, marrying her off to one of his close associates. But he did not give up on his son, and after his father’s death he received an inheritance of three tens of millions of dollars.
The boy studied at a prestigious school in Jeddah, where he entered King Abdulaziz University. He studied economics and business management, played football as a center forward in a local team, supported the London Arsenal, wrote poetry, which he may even have read to the girl he married at the age of 17... Researchers of the life path of “terrorist no. one”, in the end they counted up to 26 children from 6 wives.
Osama bin Laden with his son. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Osama studied in Riyadh and even in London, continuing to learn the secrets of management, as well as engineering. Perhaps a few more semesters, and the world would have received another unscrupulous world-eater from the construction business with offices in London and Riyadh, a villa on the Cote d'Azur of France, where he would have fun in the company of European fashion models. But at the age of 16, this guy joined one of the fundamentalist groups and became passionate about the ideas of fighting the infidels and rebuilding the world in accordance with the laws of Islam - as they understood them there. And they understood them this way: when they manage to “defeat the West and the Jews,” the whole world will supposedly accept Islam. In the meantime, we need to help like-minded people in Afghanistan overcome another enemy (the USSR), and for this it is quite possible to use the help of another enemy - the United States.
In 1979, Osama dropped out of university and went to Pakistan, which at that time was the rear of combat troops in their fight against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. At first, he spent his own money to support the Mujahideen, but in 1984, together with a Palestinian from the Muslim Brotherhood movement, Abdallah Azzam, he created an organization that was engaged in transporting militants and money to the Afghan resistance. The organization collected donations, recruited fighters around the world, and created and supported training camps for fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Things were going well.
The USSR eventually had to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in 1989. But back in 1988, apparently foreseeing a quick reduction in the field of activity in Afghanistan itself, Osama bin Laden decided to open a new “business” - he founded the Al-Qaeda organization (translated from Arabic as a base). In essence, it was a transnational network of people ready to fight for their faith and life according to its rules all over the world. This, as expected, led to conflicts with the authorities of those countries that, according to Osama bin Laden, deviated from these rules.
No fixed abode
In 1991, Osama was asked to leave even his native Saudi Arabia for his anti-government activities, criticism of the country’s royal family’s cooperation with the Americans, and problems created for the sheikhs. And in 1994, Saudi citizenship was completely deprived. Two years later, the already well-known leader of the terrorist organization, under pressure from the United States and the UN, Sudan “threw out” to Ethiopia, and from Ethiopia bin Laden in 1996 again moved to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Nasser Al-Bahri, who was the personal bodyguard of the al-Qaeda leader from 1997 to 2001, recalled in his memoirs: Osama was a modest man, but a strict father, who, however, loved to take his large family somewhere outdoors - for a picnic and shoot with machine guns.
Meanwhile, back in 1990, FBI agents found papers with references to plans to blow up one of the New York skyscrapers from one of the al-Qaeda members detained in New York. It’s unlikely that everyone remembers: one of the cells of the international terrorist international carried out this plan on February 23, 1993, by blowing up a truck with several hundred kilograms of explosives in the underground garage of that same World Trade Center. However, there were few casualties and the damage was relatively minor; the building survived.
Osama bin Laden, as the leader of al-Qaeda, was suspected of organizing or assisting terrorists who carried out several more terrorist attacks around the world, including in Saudi Arabia. But the most notorious were the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people became victims of those attacks, including 12 US citizens. It was after those terrorist attacks that Osama found himself on the FBI's list of most wanted criminals.
However, bin Laden himself clearly did not want to be known as just a serial killer. After 2001, the terrorist allowed himself to speculate on the causes of the economic crisis in the United States. In 2015, American intelligence agencies declassified some of the papers seized from Osama bin Laden’s house in Pakistan: among them, for example, there was a letter “to the American people,” apparently written shortly after Barack Obama became US President in 2009. The letter revealed interesting things - for example, it followed that Osama was seriously concerned... about the threat of climate change on Earth and saving the planet from harmful gases...
Osama bin Laden. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Ends in the water
After his liquidation, American special forces loaded bin Laden's corpse onto a helicopter and delivered it to the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea. “The officer read prepared excerpts from the funeral rite, which were then translated into Arabic by a native speaker,” a US Department of Defense spokesman said. The body, wrapped in a white shroud, was placed in a weighted bag and carefully lowered into the water. As the officials explained, there was no time to negotiate with any of the countries about a funeral on their territory, and they did not want to give the sufferers the opportunity to turn the grave of “terrorist number one” into an object of worship or a tourist attraction.
However, the “battle of civilizations” did not end with the death of Osama bin Laden. Thanks to the efforts of the same USA, it has become even more acute. Al-Qaeda is also alive, whose Syrian “cells,” for example, continue the armed struggle against the army of Bashar al-Assad. Moreover, last year the 25-year-old son of the late Osama bin Laden, Hamza, called on militants in Syria to unite to fight Israel and its American allies. The number one son of terrorist promised to avenge the death of his father and his other “spiritual brothers” on all Americans by attacking them anywhere and everywhere. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.