In his last will and testament, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed he had about Dollars 29 million in personal wealth – most of which he wanted to be used “on jihad, for the sake of Allah”. The papers constitute the second release of material taken from the Pakistan compound where bin Laden was killed by USA military forces in 2011.
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The al Qaeda leader, who had a $27 million bounty on his head, did it all 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. A scan of a document written by Osama bin Laden (L) and translated into English (R) is shown in this image from the office of the director of national intelligence.Photo: Reuters In one document, bin Laden issues instructions to al Qaeda members holding an Afghan hostage to be wary of possible tracking technology attached to the ransom payment.
The Iranian dentist might have used a slightly enlarged syringe to make such an implant, bin Laden wrote in the letter.
The group has since been led by al-Qaeda’s former second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
– He warned one of his wives, Khairah, that a bugging or tracking device could be installed in her mouth when she was receiving a dental filling in Iran, where she was under house arrest.
The documents, mostly dated from 2009 to 2011, show that bin Laden, 54 at the time he was killed, was increasingly anxious that the United States would discover his whereabouts through spies in al-Qaida’s midst, drones in the air or secret tracking devices. The concern may have been merited – the United States conducts extensive electronic surveillance on al Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups.
“When you can, please let me know the reasons why the brothers coming from Iran were detained, God release them”.
“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 in a letter that was undated, but apparently written in final year of his life.
In contrast, USA officials frequently referred to bin Laden as “hiding in a cave” and cut off from the world. It was seized in the United States assault in Abbotabad, Pakistan. The document was among 100 released by US intelligence officials.
He appeals to his relatives who might also seek claim to that fortune to “obey my will and to spend all the money that I have left in Sudan on jihad”.
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Shortly before his death, bin Laden hailed the overthrow and death of Libya’s strongman leader Moammar Qaddafi.
