Son Omar Says, Osama Bin Laden Is Alive
Omar bin Laden, son of the world's biggest terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has said his father is still alive, but he does not know where, reports The Sun, London. · In an interview to
Omar bin Laden, son of the world's biggest terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has said his father is still alive, but he does not know where, reports The Sun, London.
· In an interview to The Sun reporter Oliver Harvey in Doha, Qatar, Omar said: "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."
Omar was once anointed by his father as his successor to lead al-Qaeda's jihad, but the son broke away from his father's deadly gang.
In an interview, Omar bin Laden talks of his dream of a date with Hollywood star Drew Barrymore.
Omar loves Madonna - "she's such a great dancer for a woman of her age" - Jim Carrey movies, American football, rock music and even Laurel And Hardy.
He was glued to the World Cup - "my favourite player is Lionel Messi" - and is even planning to import cowboy-style saddles from the US to the Middle East because "they are more comfortable".
· Perhaps it was his austere childhood in the parched deserts of Sudan and the freezing caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan which led to his admiration of all things American.
· Omar, 29, says: "It's a weak son who just wants to be like his daddy," before he tucks into a mouthful of fries washed down with a can of Pepsi.
He adds: "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.
"My father said the only good thing to come out of America were weapons - like Stinger missiles.
"But I want to go to America and I would love to meet Drew Barrymore. I am single now and she is the most beautiful woman in Hollywood."
Omar agreed to talk to The Sun - without asking for or receiving a fee - to set the record straight about his split from his British wife. He also wants to plead for the release of his brothers being held in Iran.
His estranged wife Zaina, a six-times married grandmother from Cheshire and 25 years his senior, announced their split this month.
She said Omar had begun to hear his father's voice in his head and was suffering from schizophrenia.
Now surrogate mum Louise Pollard, 24, a PA from Bristol, has announced that, after three months of trying through IVF, she is pregnant with Omar's baby, supposedly using one of Zaina's eggs.
Omar highlights the conflict in his feelings over his father by revealing that he wants to call the baby Osama. Omar - who has a son, Ahmad, five, from a previous marriage - says: "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."
Zaina had said he wanted to name the baby Elizabeth (after the Queen) if it was a girl and William (after William Wallace) if it was a boy.
He adds: "I prefer him to be in the Middle East with me. But wherever he is I will take care of him and take care of both his mothers - Louise as well as Zaina because she is carrying my child. She is very pretty."
As for the talk of voices in his head, Omar, who owns a construction business, says: "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.
"The dream I have is that he is driving a truck and I stand in his way so he has to change direction. I hope to change his way for good, but it's only a dream. I admit I'm suffering from depression and taking anti-depressants because of the worry about my family, including two brothers being held in Iran for nine years.
"They are innocent. They are not terrorists but they are very down that they cannot leave Iran. I am very stressed and worried for them but I'm not schizophrenic."
Photographer Dan Charity and I spent the day with Bin Laden junior in Doha, in the Gulf state of Qatar, where he now lives alone in a comfortable villa.
He met Zaina - formerly known as Jane Felix-Browne - on a riding holiday in Egypt in 2006.
He says: "I love her, I care about her. It's a complicated situation. I was married for four years and we had some very happy times. But I told her, 'I can't do this any more. I want to separate. I want to be alone for a while'. "I have no intention of going back to the marriage at all. But if she was ever in trouble and I could help I would never say No."
He has a striking resemblance to his infamous father, with a long, broad nose. But the dark and distant eyes lack the al-Qaeda chief's sinister sparkle.
It seems that Omar's father - who he last saw in Afghanistan in April 2001 - looms constantly over his life.
He still wrestles with his feelings for Osama the father and Bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 attacks which killed almost 3,000 innocent people.
Zaina said recently: "Omar loves and hates Osama at the same time. He loves him because he is his father but hates what he has done. I think he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after 9/11."
Omar, a practising Muslim, admits: "I've had a heavy life. It's been crazy at times. It was a very difficult childhood - far from normal. Sometimes we had everything. Other times we were hiding in the mountains and had nothing."
Omar was born in Saudi Arabia to Osama's first wife, Najwa. The family moved to Sudan, in Africa, but the al-Qaeda leader was forced to flee as his terror group grew.
In May 1996 he left for the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan, choosing Omar alone to accompany him, and setting up terror training camps. Omar became his father's personal tea boy, living in freezing huts on meagre rations. The then teenager learned to fire a Kalashnikov rifle and to drive a Russian tank. He was later joined by his mother and siblings.
He says: "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 was disgusted when the fanatics started killing his pets to test chemical weapons. He says: "Friends of my father bought me a puppy. I loved to play with him and called him Bobby. But my father's followers came for Bobby to test chemicals on him. I was frightened. The men ignored me and said, 'It's your father's order'. "
One day, around the time that Osama was plotting the attacks of 9/11, he pinned a piece of paper to the wall of the mosque to recruit men willing to be suicide bombers.
Omar adds: "He told me and my brothers the situation and said if we wanted to take part there was a piece of paper we could write our names on. He was laughing. I was surprised and angry."
Omar fled Afghanistan in April 2001, just before his father became the world's most wanted man.
Today, over a club sandwich at a plush hotel, The Sun reporter asked what he would say to his father if he were to call Omar's mobile sitting on the table in front of us.
He stares blankly at the phone for what seems like an age before looking up and saying quietly: "He's never going to ring."
· In an interview to The Sun reporter Oliver Harvey in Doha, Qatar, Omar said: "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."
Omar was once anointed by his father as his successor to lead al-Qaeda's jihad, but the son broke away from his father's deadly gang.
In an interview, Omar bin Laden talks of his dream of a date with Hollywood star Drew Barrymore.
Omar loves Madonna - "she's such a great dancer for a woman of her age" - Jim Carrey movies, American football, rock music and even Laurel And Hardy.
He was glued to the World Cup - "my favourite player is Lionel Messi" - and is even planning to import cowboy-style saddles from the US to the Middle East because "they are more comfortable".
· Perhaps it was his austere childhood in the parched deserts of Sudan and the freezing caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan which led to his admiration of all things American.
· Omar, 29, says: "It's a weak son who just wants to be like his daddy," before he tucks into a mouthful of fries washed down with a can of Pepsi.
He adds: "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.
"My father said the only good thing to come out of America were weapons - like Stinger missiles.
"But I want to go to America and I would love to meet Drew Barrymore. I am single now and she is the most beautiful woman in Hollywood."
Omar agreed to talk to The Sun - without asking for or receiving a fee - to set the record straight about his split from his British wife. He also wants to plead for the release of his brothers being held in Iran.
His estranged wife Zaina, a six-times married grandmother from Cheshire and 25 years his senior, announced their split this month.
She said Omar had begun to hear his father's voice in his head and was suffering from schizophrenia.
Now surrogate mum Louise Pollard, 24, a PA from Bristol, has announced that, after three months of trying through IVF, she is pregnant with Omar's baby, supposedly using one of Zaina's eggs.
Omar highlights the conflict in his feelings over his father by revealing that he wants to call the baby Osama. Omar - who has a son, Ahmad, five, from a previous marriage - says: "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."
Zaina had said he wanted to name the baby Elizabeth (after the Queen) if it was a girl and William (after William Wallace) if it was a boy.
He adds: "I prefer him to be in the Middle East with me. But wherever he is I will take care of him and take care of both his mothers - Louise as well as Zaina because she is carrying my child. She is very pretty."
As for the talk of voices in his head, Omar, who owns a construction business, says: "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.
"The dream I have is that he is driving a truck and I stand in his way so he has to change direction. I hope to change his way for good, but it's only a dream. I admit I'm suffering from depression and taking anti-depressants because of the worry about my family, including two brothers being held in Iran for nine years.
"They are innocent. They are not terrorists but they are very down that they cannot leave Iran. I am very stressed and worried for them but I'm not schizophrenic."
Photographer Dan Charity and I spent the day with Bin Laden junior in Doha, in the Gulf state of Qatar, where he now lives alone in a comfortable villa.
He met Zaina - formerly known as Jane Felix-Browne - on a riding holiday in Egypt in 2006.
He says: "I love her, I care about her. It's a complicated situation. I was married for four years and we had some very happy times. But I told her, 'I can't do this any more. I want to separate. I want to be alone for a while'. "I have no intention of going back to the marriage at all. But if she was ever in trouble and I could help I would never say No."
He has a striking resemblance to his infamous father, with a long, broad nose. But the dark and distant eyes lack the al-Qaeda chief's sinister sparkle.
It seems that Omar's father - who he last saw in Afghanistan in April 2001 - looms constantly over his life.
He still wrestles with his feelings for Osama the father and Bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 attacks which killed almost 3,000 innocent people.
Zaina said recently: "Omar loves and hates Osama at the same time. He loves him because he is his father but hates what he has done. I think he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after 9/11."
Omar, a practising Muslim, admits: "I've had a heavy life. It's been crazy at times. It was a very difficult childhood - far from normal. Sometimes we had everything. Other times we were hiding in the mountains and had nothing."
Omar was born in Saudi Arabia to Osama's first wife, Najwa. The family moved to Sudan, in Africa, but the al-Qaeda leader was forced to flee as his terror group grew.
In May 1996 he left for the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan, choosing Omar alone to accompany him, and setting up terror training camps. Omar became his father's personal tea boy, living in freezing huts on meagre rations. The then teenager learned to fire a Kalashnikov rifle and to drive a Russian tank. He was later joined by his mother and siblings.
He says: "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 was disgusted when the fanatics started killing his pets to test chemical weapons. He says: "Friends of my father bought me a puppy. I loved to play with him and called him Bobby. But my father's followers came for Bobby to test chemicals on him. I was frightened. The men ignored me and said, 'It's your father's order'. "
One day, around the time that Osama was plotting the attacks of 9/11, he pinned a piece of paper to the wall of the mosque to recruit men willing to be suicide bombers.
Omar adds: "He told me and my brothers the situation and said if we wanted to take part there was a piece of paper we could write our names on. He was laughing. I was surprised and angry."
Omar fled Afghanistan in April 2001, just before his father became the world's most wanted man.
Today, over a club sandwich at a plush hotel, The Sun reporter asked what he would say to his father if he were to call Omar's mobile sitting on the table in front of us.
He stares blankly at the phone for what seems like an age before looking up and saying quietly: "He's never going to ring."