Osama bin Laden is alive, says son Omar

Omar bin Laden, son of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said that his father is alive.

Omar bin Laden, son of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has said that his father is alive but maintains he doesn’t know anything about Osama’s whereabouts.

Omar told The Sun on Thursday, “My dad is on the Earth but I don’t know where. He’s still alive. If that sort of person dies, you could never make it a secret. The world changes if he dies.”  He added, “I still love him - of course I do - he’s my father. That’s a normal human situation. I miss him as a father but we are different. I want peace.”

Omar told the newspaper in an interview in Doha that according to Osama, “The only good thing to come out of America was weapons - like Stinger missiles.”

29-year-old Omar has split from his wife Zaina, a British woman who was married six times before marrying him. Zaina had said that Omar had begun to hear Osama’s voice in his head and was suffering from schizophrenia. In a reply to this, Omar said, “When people get angry and upset they say a lot of things they don’t mean. I don’t hear voices from my father in my head - but I do dream about him a lot.”

Omar also revealed that he wants to name his unborn child Osama. “If the baby is a boy I might call him Osama - but I hope he will be peaceful in every respect. It’s traditional to use the grandfather’s name again. “

Omar bin laden was born in Saudi Arabia to Osama’s first wife, Najwa. The family moved to Sudan but the al Qaeda leader was forced to flee as his terror group grew. In May 1996, Osama left for the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan and chose Omar to accompany him and to set up terror training camps.  Omar learnt to fire a Kalashnikov rifle and to drive a Russian tank.

“I was his chosen son. He’s one of those people who has a magical effect for anyone who sits and listens. He changes minds. They said this also about Hitler. But I didn’t follow my father.”

Omar fled Afghanistan in April 2001. Months later, 9/11 took place and Osama became the world’s most wanted man.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2010