IS BIN LADEN REALLY DEAD? NOT EVERYONE IS CONVINCED
WASHINGTON,U.S.A - Knowing there would be disbelievers, the U.S. says it used convincing means to confirm Osama bin Laden's identity during and after the firefight that killed him. But the mystique that surrounded the terrorist chieftain in life is persisting in death. Was it really him? How do we know? Where are the body?Already, those questions are spreading in Pakistan and surely beyond. In the absence of photos and with his body given up to the sea, many people don't believe bin Laden, the Great Emir to some, the fabled escape artist of the Tora Bora mountains to foe and friend alike — is really dead.
U.S. officials are balancing that skepticism with the sensitivities that might be inflamed by showing images they say they have of the dead al-Qaida leader and video of his burial at sea. Still, it appeared likely that photographic evidence would be produced.- "We are going to do everything we can to make sure that nobody has any basis to try to deny that we got Osama bin Laden," John Brennan, President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, said Monday.
- He said the U.S. will "share what we can because we want to make sure that not only the American people but the world understand exactly what happened."
- In July 2003, the U.S. took heat but also quieted most conspiracy theorists by releasing graphic photos of the corpses of Saddam Hussein's two powerful sons to prove American forces had killed them.
So far, the U.S. has cited evidence that satisfied the Navy SEAL force, and at least most of the world, that they had the right man in Abbottabad, Pakistan.- The helicopter-borne raiding squad that swarmed the luxury compound identified bin Laden by appearance. A woman in the compound who was identified as his wife was said to have called out bin Laden's name in the melee.
- Officials produced a quick DNA match from his remains that they said established bin Laden's identity, even absent the other techniques, with 99.9 percent certainty. U.S. officials also said bin Laden was identified through photo comparisons and other methods.
- Tellingly, an al-Qaida spokesman, in vowing vengeance against America, called him a martyr, offering no challenge to the U.S. account of his death.
- Even so, it's almost inevitable that the bin Laden mythology will not end with the bullet in his head. If it suits extremist ends to spin a fantastical tale of survival or trickery to gullible ears, expect to hear it.
In the immediate aftermath, people in Abbottabad expressed widespread disbelief that bin Laden had died or ever lived among them."I'm not ready to buy bin Laden was here," said Haris Rasheed, 22, who works in a fast food restaurant. "How come no one knew he was here and why did they bury him so quickly? This is all fake — a drama, and a crude one."
Kamal Khan, 25, who is unemployed, said the official story "looks fishy to me."
- The burial from an aircraft carrier in the North Arabian Sea was videotaped aboard the ship, according to a senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because a decision on whether to release the video was not final. The official said it was highly likely that the video, along with photographs of bin Laden's body, would be made public in coming days.
The swiftness of the burial may have raised suspicions but was in accord with Islamic traditions. Islamic scholars, however, challenged U.S. assertions that a burial at sea was an appropriate fate for a Muslim who had died on land.The act denied al-Qaida any sort of burial shrine for their slain leader. Once again, bin Laden had vanished, but this time at the hands of the United States and in a way that ensures he is gone forever.
THE WORLD'S MOST WANTED OSAMA BIN LADEN KILLED IN PAKISTAN
WASHINGTON, U.S.A - US president Barack Obama said bin Laden, the most-wanted fugitive on the US list, had been killed on Sunday in a US operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, about 150km north of Islamabad."Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people," Obama said in a statement.
"Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body. - "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against al-Qaeda.
- "We must also reaffirm that United states is not and will never be at war against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, in fact, he slaughtered many Muslims," Obama said.
According to New York Times, bin Laden's body was taken to Afghanistan and later buried at sea. As the news of bin Laden's death spread, crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington DC to celebrate. Former US president George Bush called his death a "momentous achievement".
OSAMA BIN LADEN CALLS FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE?
Osama bin Laden has criticised relief efforts in Pakistan and called for action against climate change in what appeared to be a new audio tape from the Al Qaeda leader.
The message marks the second time in a year that bin Laden has departed from his usual calls for armed attacks on the West to make a global theme such a natural disasters or economic crisis the centrepiece of a message.
It follows a statement in mid-September by Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri also accusing the Pakistani government of reacting too slowly to the floods and a statement earlier this week by Al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn on a similar theme.
Experts say South Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change. A thaw of glaciers in the Himalayas could disrupt flows in rivers from the Ganges to the Yangtze, affecting hundreds of millions of people in Asia. Rising seas are also a big threat to densely populated low-lying areas of Bangladesh.
US soldiers and Afghan militia forces assaulted the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States in pursuit of the Saudi-born bin Laden.
But he has never been found and is believed to be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Source: Reuters
The message marks the second time in a year that bin Laden has departed from his usual calls for armed attacks on the West to make a global theme such a natural disasters or economic crisis the centrepiece of a message.
It follows a statement in mid-September by Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri also accusing the Pakistani government of reacting too slowly to the floods and a statement earlier this week by Al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn on a similar theme.
- The bin Laden message, about 11 minutes long, was broadcast with a video showing still images of bin Laden and images of natural disasters, the Islamist website used by Al Qaeda said.
- The authenticity of the tape and its precise release date could not be immediately confirmed. However, bin Laden congratulates Muslims on the holy month of Ramadan, which started on August 11 and ended September 9.
- He describes the fate of the Pakistani people following catastrophic floods, saying: "Millions of children are out in the open air, lacking basic elements of living, including drinking water, resulting in their bodies shedding liquids and subsequently their death."
- Bin Laden also touches on global warming, the second time he is believed to have made climate change a prominent theme of one of his statements.
"The huge climate change is affecting our [Islamic] nation and is causing great catastrophes throughout the Islamic world," he says in the tape.- "It is not sufficient anymore to maintain the same relief efforts as previously, as it has become crucial to deliver tents, food and medicine."
- Islamic charities, some with suspected ties to militant groups, were quicker than the Pakistani government to provide relief to flood victims.
- Pakistani and US officials have repeatedly expressed concern that the Taliban and other militant groups could exploit the disarray to gain recruits.
Experts say South Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate change. A thaw of glaciers in the Himalayas could disrupt flows in rivers from the Ganges to the Yangtze, affecting hundreds of millions of people in Asia. Rising seas are also a big threat to densely populated low-lying areas of Bangladesh.- Noman Benotman, a former bin Laden associate who now works for Britain's Quilliam counter-extremism think-tank, said his use of a humanitarian message was a sign of desperation and showed the group was trying anything to gain popular support.
- Al Qaeda has never pursued systematic humanitarian work during natural disasters of the kind carried out by aid organisations and Islamic relief charities, analysts say.
- Australian counter-terrorism expert Leah Farrall described the statement as "hypocritical", noting that internal Al Qaeda documents found in Afghanistan and dated about 2000 commanded members not to be "distracted by relief and aid operations."
- Bin Laden urged a big transformation in how relief work is executed, calling the number of victims of climate change much bigger than the victims of war.
- The message was bin Laden's first since March 25, when he threatened to execute any Americans captured by Al Qaeda if accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was executed.
US soldiers and Afghan militia forces assaulted the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States in pursuit of the Saudi-born bin Laden.But he has never been found and is believed to be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
OSAMA BIN LADEN BLASTS U.S FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the United States in a new message Friday, dropping his usual talk of religion and holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic: global warming.The al-Qaida leader blamed the United States and other industrialized nations for climate change and said the only way to prevent disaster was to break the American economy, calling on the world to boycott U.S. goods and stop using the dollar.
- "The effects of global warming have touched every continent. Drought and deserts are spreading, while from the other floods and hurricanes unseen before the previous decades have now become frequent," bin Laden said in the audiotape, aired on the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera.
- The terror leader noted Washington's rejection of the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gases and painted the United States as in the thrall of major corporations that he said "are the true criminals against the global climate" and are to blame for the global economic crisis, driving "tens of millions into poverty and unemployment."
- Bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders have mentioned global warming and struck an anti-globalization tone in previous tapes and videos. But the latest was the first message by bin Laden solely dedicated to the topic. It was also nearly entirely empty of the Islamic militant rhetoric that usually fills his declarations.
- The change in rhetoric aims to give al-Qaida's message an appeal beyond hardcore Islamic militants, said Evan Kohlmann, of globalterroralert.com, a private, U.S.-based terrorism analysis group.
- The al-Qaida leader's call for an economic boycott helps in the appeal,providing a nonviolent way to participate in opposing the United States.
- "People of the world, it's not right for the burden to be left on the mujahedeen (holy warriors) in an issue that causes harm to everyone," he said. "Boycott them to save yourselves and your possessions and your children from climate change and to live proud and free."
- Al-Jazeera aired excerpts of the message and posted a transcript on its Web site. The tape's authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but the voice resembled that of bin Laden on messages known to be from him. The new message comes after a bin Laden tape released last week in which he endorsed a failed attempt to blow up an American airliner on Christmas Day.
- In the new tape, bin Laden refers to the Dec. 18 climate conference in Copenhagen — indicated the message was made recently.
- The message whose length Al-Jazeera did not specify — makes only brief passing mentions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine and instead hits on issues that could resonate at a time of widespread economic woes.
- "The world is held hostage by major corporations, which are pushing it to the brink," he said. "World politics are not governed by reason but by the force and greed of oil thieves and warmongers and the cruel beasts of capitalism."
- To stop global warming, he called for the "wheels of the American economy" to be brought to a halt. "This is possible if the peoples of the world stop consuming American goods."
- "We must also stop dealings in the dollar and get rid of it as soon as possible," he said. "I know that this has great consequences and grave ramifications, but it is the only means to liberate humanity from slavery and dependence on America."
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
