Declassified documents: Osama planned 9/11 anniversary media push

Documents reveal al Qaeda chief had difficulty organising attacks


Afp May 21, 2015
This file photo shows children playing cricket near the site of the demolished compound of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON:


When he was killed by US Navy commandos, al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was plotting a coordinated media push to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.


According to documents seized in the May 2011 raid that ended the militant leader’s decade on the run, he was planning a video address and a propaganda blitz.

US intelligence agencies declassified around 100 of the documents on Wednesday and provided translations to AFP, which was not able to independently verify their authenticity.

“We are awaiting the tenth anniversary of the blessed attacks on New York and Washington which will be in nine months,” Osama wrote in letter to his allies found in the raid. “You are well aware of its importance and the importance of taking advantage of the anniversary in the media to embody the victories of Muslims and communicate what we want to communicate to people.”

When US intelligence caught up with him in 2011, Osama was living secretly in Abbottabad, communicating with his network by courier. The documents revealed on Wednesday show that he was having difficulty organising large-scale attacks against the West, but was determined to take full credit for past successes.

“I have been in correspondence with the brothers to provide Al Jazeera with several statements when the channel starts covering the attacks on the first of September,” he said. “I have sent you a video statement about two months ago but it has not been broadcast in the media yet. I plan to redo it before broadcasting it.”

In a separate message dated April 5, 2011, Bin Laden’s right hand man Atiyah Abd al Rahman.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2015. 

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