The US government had seized a treasure trove of documents in the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani hideout in Abbottabad compound in which he was killed.
In a 42-page booklet originally in Arabic, the cache of 113 documents, translated and declassified by US intelligence agencies, are mostly dated between 2009 and 2011, reports Reuters.
Source: Twitter | @Reuters
Here are the top 10 revelations from the declassified documents:
1. Al Qaeda leader bin Laden left a $29 million inheritance for jihad
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden outlined in letters and other documents how at least $29 million of his funds and possessions should be apportioned after his death, requesting that most of it be used to continue global jihad.
“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,”
2. Osama wanted to wage jihad against Pakistan
bin Laden was plotting to wage a war against Pakistan and wanted to manipulate Indo-Pak tensions to achieve this objective.
“India has embarked on many important initiatives, except that it is preparing for a decisive grand battle. Among those initiatives are India’s bid to purchase 134 fighter aircraft from all over the world, this will be the largest military deal in the history of the whole world.”
“These giant steps predict an incoming storm. India has focused its attention on Pakistan’s internal situation. Military analysts interpreted these steps through their statements that India will attack Pakistan, sooner or later,”
3. Osama feared US led drone strikes.
Al Qaeda’s leaders were increasingly worried about spies in their midst, drones in the air and secret tracking devices reporting their movements as the U.S.-led war against them ground on
In an apparent reference to armed U.S. drones patrolling the skies, bin Laden says his negotiators should not leave their rented house in the Pakistani city of Peshawar “except on a cloudy overcast day.”
4. Laden was getting increasingly paranoid
Bin Laden, writing under the pseudonym Abu Abdallah, expresses alarm over his wife’s visit to a dentist while in Iran, worrying that a tracking chip could have been implanted with her dental filling.
“The size of the chip is about the length of a grain of wheat and the width of a fine piece of vermicelli,” he wrote.
The letter ended with this instruction: “Please destroy this letter after reading it.”
5. Osama also wrote about US ‘failing’ in it’s war in Afghanistan.
“Here we are in the tenth year of the war, and America and its allies are still chasing a mirage, lost at sea without a beach,” he wrote.
“They thought that the war would be easy and that they would accomplish their objectives in a few days or a few weeks, and they did not prepare for it financially, and there is no popular support that would enable it to carry on a war for a decade or more. The sons of Islam have opposed them and stood between them and their plans and objectives,” he wrote
6. Osama micromanaged Al-Qaeda while hiding in Pak
He did all the work using a network of trusted couriers carrying tiny, easily concealable cell phone computer chips to carry his communications back and forth from his hideout in Abbottabad to relatives held in Iran, media outlets and his lieutenants in Somalia, Afghanistan, North Africa, Iraq and many other places, reports Reuters.
7. Osama Bin Laden watched the 9/11 anniversary media blitz
“It is obvious to you that the coming anniversary of the two Manhattan attacks is the tenth anniversary and this event has great importance,” read an unsigned, undated letter that U.S. intelligence officials believe bin Laden authored.
“Therefore care must be given to it and preparation should be given to it.”
Al Qaeda shouldn’t rely on a single media source “to benefit from that event” and to “deliver our message to Muslims…and incite their souls,” the author wrote.
8. Osama wanted to impose a course curriculum in place for new terrorists
Bin Laden apparently struggled to impose bureaucratic uniformity across his terrorist network, including an educational syllabus for new fighters.
Titled a “Course of Islamic Study for Soldiers and Members,” it includes a list of subjects and skills to be taught. (No. 1 is reading and writing.) There is also a reading list of mostly books about Islam as well as lectures ranging from the history of jihad in the Horn of Africa to “a brief word on raising children.”
9. Osama also had written a romantic letter to one of his wives.
“I really want for you to be my wife in paradise, and the woman, if she marries two men, is given a choice on Judgment Day to be with one of them,” reads the letter.
10. Bin Laden called for Americans to rise up over climate change
Osama bin Laden wrote a letter calling on the American people to help President Barack Obama fight “catastrophic” climate change and “save humanity”, in the latest evidence of his worries about environmental issues, newly released documents show
The undated, unsigned letter “to the American people,” which U.S. intelligence officials attributed to bin Laden, appeared to have been written shortly after Obama began his first term in 2009, based on the letter’s references to events.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
(Feature Image Source: Twitter)