Bin Laden ‘cried and was sensitive’ says al-Qaida chief

The new head of al-Qaida remembers Osama bin Laden as a sensitive man who cried when his friends lost family members, remained close to his children, and fondly remembered the 19 men who carried out the deadliest terrorist attack ever on US soil.

Long-time Bin Laden deputy Ayman al Zawahri, now al-Qaida’s new head, related these and other memories in a new video posted on jihadist websites.

In the video, al Zawahri said he wants “to show the human side” of Bin Laden’s life.

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In doing so, he also is likely trying to boost his own popularity by emphasising his closeness to the terror group’s former, more charismatic leader.

Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in May during a raid in Pakistan.

Al Zawahri assumed control of the organisation shortly after, though experts said he lacks Bin Laden’s charisma, which drew many to the group.

People don’t know that this man was tender, gentle, kind, with refined feelings, even when life was hard,” al Zawahri said. “We never saw a man like him.”

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Al Zawahri told stories of how Bin Laden remembered al-Qaida members who died fighting “jihad”, or “holy war”.

He gave special mention to the hijackers who carried out the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

He recalled one time when he and Bin Laden were hiding in the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora, saying Bin Laden wrote death certificates for each one of the hijackers, fearing he would be killed “without remembering these heroic martyrs”.

Al Zawahri devotes much of his talk to Bin Laden’s relationship with his children, saying he paid great attention to educating them well despite having to move from place to place.

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Bin Laden brought in a teacher who would threaten to beat the children with a stick to teach them the Koran, the Islamic holy book, al Zawahri said.

His statement comes after US drones fired four missiles at two compounds in north-western Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing 16 alleged militants, intelligence officials said yesterday.

The strikes took place in Bobar village in the South Waziristan tribal area, a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, said the officials.

The Pakistani military conducted a large ground offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan in 2009, but militants remain in the area and periodic attacks still occur.

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The US does not acknowledge the CIA-run drone programme in Pakistan publicly, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed many senior al-Qaida and Taliban commanders.

Most of the strikes have targeted al-Qaida militants or Afghan Taliban insurgents battling US forces in Afghanistan.

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