Osama bin Laden appearances flatlined for the last three years, going back to his video message shortly before the 2004 presidential election. (He'd also turned up before the 2002 election.) There he was in his 2004 appearance with that characteristic whitening beard of his, the darkened, droopy eyes, the brownish background.
Then silence.
Or rather, silence from bin Laden, and much noise from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor and al-Qaeda's second in command, whose bloodthirstiness exceeds even that of bin Laden: It was al-Zawahiri who, when bin Laden was teetering on the brink of quitting al-Qaeda during his oddly pastoral years in the Sudan in the early 1990s, convinced bin Laden to stay on and ratchet up the fight. It was also al-Zawahiri who masterminded the bloodbath at Luxor on Nov. 17, 1997, when six men dressed in black attacked tourists visiting the famous site in Upper Egypt. Sixty-two men, women and children were killed. Zawahiri blamed it on the tourists for being there: "The young men," he abstractly told tourists after the attack, referring to the four killers, "are saying that this is our country and not a place for frolicking and enjoyment, especially for you."
No wonder it isn't just bin Laden who has a $25 million bounty on his head. The FBI is offering $25 million for al-Zawahiri, too. (The next-biggest bounty on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list is $1 million. That fugitive, James Bulger, is an American mobster.)
This week we're back to what looks like the Osama show: two videos in less than a week. The first has bin Laden in that same brownish setting as the 2004 performance, except that the snowy beard has been replaced by a jet-black version, as if bin Laden had just discovered vanity's redeeming possibilities. Not quite what you'd expect from a fundamentalist Muslim who describes his calling as "the call of Islam that was revealed to Mohammed." I have my doubts about this incarnation.
The second video doesn't actually show more than an image of bin Laden. We hear his voice. But he speaks in generalities about one of the 9/11 hijackers. The thing could have been produced two years ago, maybe even longer, despite its mention of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian who briefly led "al-Qaida in Mesopotamia" until American forces killed him in June 2006.
Difficult to say whether he's dead or alive, it's just as tricky to decide whether this is a profile or an obituary: either way, here's a shotgun biography of bin Laden in its essentials, the last chapter yet to be written.
Comments
Yeah… DEE EE DEE … DEAD
why werent we shown his body? sadaams sons were on every site and newspaper all over the world including the USA, don’t tell me, they had to bury him the muslim way the next day. oh well like I said WHERE IS THE BODY??? we want to see his body like we saw sadaam hang and his boys all riddled with bullets. what is the excuse for not showing the man’s body who the world has been waiting to be killed?? and if we talk washington, please, they will kill a look alike if they have to to stay president, to be cheered at, bull crap I say, until obama can show us his body, he is still alive, why should we believe washington with no proof? their reputation is not an honest one and we all know it……SHOW US THE BODY, the hell with that his wives identified him, or dna, how do we know they didn’t identify a family member???
did we ask for another biography of this monster?? hell no!! so why waste our time with another one, who gives a damn about his 100 kids and 50 wives…oh, maybe you do author of this article
I certainly do, Nina. My responsibility is to report and inform, not obscure. No one is forcing you read this. There are a few tens of thousands of articles from which you may choose. Here, for a example, is a nice article about a new camcorder you might try. Or this one about weight loss. It sounds to me like you could use a little relaxation.
@Pierre – Good reply !!!
I’m with you Nina. Too much cover-up and not enough proof. Simple as that.
Pierre, in America, we have the right to our opinion and this includes you. However, as a reporter it’s your job to remain objective. Your rude reply to Nina regarding her reading one of your relaxation or weight loss articles is absolutely unprofessional. Nina is only voicing her opinion, she is not personally attacking you. Don’t attack her for her thoughts on this subject. Many people share her viewpoints.
Well for me all this over a man that no one knows personally.their should be no arguemnt @Pierre thats a great reply giving an update on real life for the ignorant comments.YOU WERE NOT FORCED to read this article you just happen to use your mouse and click on it yourself.so Their should be no negative reply AT ALL.Alhumdillah My God Bless Youu Maybe you should try an article about PEACE.My God be with you.
if not dead or alive we will never knowits very irrelavant to even argue over a man thats suppose to be dead and gone.its really time to move on!
People we are supposr to be in our last days so really we never know.