Ex-Bin Laden man writes against Qaeda

SANAA: A former bodyguard of Osama Bin Laden, Yemeni Nasseral Bahri, wants to dissuade young people from joining al Qaeda, and has co-authored a book with a French journalist to get his message across.

“The main purpose of the book is to teach youth how to say no” to extremists such as al Qaeda, Bahri tells a news agency, adding that he is surprised that France denied him a visa for a trip to publicise “In the Shadow of Bin Laden.” Bahri explains that, as a supporter of holy war against what he considered “Western injustice” he had joined al Qaeda but found it “not very convincing from the inside.

” He left the organisation in 2000. “I advise young people not to be hasty. They should be moderate and listen to others. It is true that there are ideological differences with the West, but we need to talk.”