Bin Laden : Letters reveal the man behind the mask

Documents that have been newly made public by the United States administration include the late terrorist’s hand written will and several personal letters. The letters give an indication of how Bin Laden lived in constant awareness of the fact that he was then the most-hunted man on the planet. There also seems to have been slight trepidation – a worry about his passage to the eternal destination that he could be heading to anytime. “If I am to be killed, pray for me a lot and give continuous charities in my name, as I will be in great need for support to reach the permanent home,” he wrote. This, from a man who resorted to war and suicide attacks against a people he deemded enemies of his faith.

Another letter to his wife cautions her about the constant attempts of authorities to hunt them down. She had apparently just visited a dentist, and in his letter, Bin Laden enquires if she suspected the dentist of having inserted a tracking device into her tooth filling. He goes on to detail a chip for her benefit – “The size of the chip is about the length of a grain of wheat and the width of a fine piece of vermicelli.”
These are little bits of information that, when pieced together, bring to light a different aspect of the man the world dreaded and hated. Somewhere, deep inside, maybe there was a man with the same fears, ideals and worries as anyone else. Osama, the champion of his cause also worried about how continual conflicts – both internal and with regimes in the Middle East would remove focus from who he considered the real enemy of their cause – the United States.

The newly declassified documents were made public by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence earlier this week. These are part of the cache of documents recovered during the raid on the Abbottabad compound in Pakistan during which Bin Laden was killed. A hand-written will from the early nineties dictates that the majority of the wealth he left behind in Sudan was to be used to further the Al Quaida cause and to be employed towards “jihad for the sake of Allah”. He claimed to have left behind over $29 million, small portions of which were also to be set aside for close associates and family. Bin Laden, the family figure is revealed through other letters that express concern about the medical treatment of some relatives, and the education of some others.In his letters, he also urges his family to further his efforts – “”I hope for my brothers, sisters and maternal aunts to obey my will and to spend all the money that I have left in Sudan on jihad, for the sake of Allah”. Bin Laden was an official guest in Sudan for close to 5 years before mounting pressure from the US govenrment forced him to leave.
Some other documents also outline media plans he had, and intentions to extort money from other countries in exchange for an assurance of not being attacked by the Al Queida.

His biggest concerns seemed to have been infighting between splinter groups and the need to unify the terror network against their enemies. The man who masterminded some of the worst terror attacks the world has seen also goes on to caution his followers about ‘being judicious’ in their use of human shields in the course of their operations. Maybe they were burning out operatives faster than they could harvest them from the several training camps they had operational. Threats to the US are omnipresent in his letters, warning Americans that his efforts would not detract while the US continued to support Israel.
Bin Laden the son also seemed to know that he hadn’t exactly made his parents proud. Knowing full well that he could be struk down any moment, he pleads with his father to look after his family – “My precious father: I entrust you well for my wife and children, and that you will always ask about them and follow up on their whereabouts and help them in their marriages and needs,” and also goes on to ask his forgiveness – “if I have done what you did not like”. Rare glimpses of Bin Laden the son, possibly buried deep within Bin Laden the terrorist.

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