And O'Saba still says Osama bin Laden did not pull off that Twin Towers
job - not his style.
Further it is about time the people were told the truth about Danny
Pearl and maybe his Merry Widow who professes to be a "journalist" will
tell us for whom she has worked - for even PBS seems to beome a little
suspicious of her background. Just a thought.
OSaba
Rense.com
Half Brother Says bin Laden
Is Alive And Well
3-19-2
JEDDA, Saudi Arabia (CNN) - A half brother of Osama bin Laden says the
terrorist's family has its own information that bin Laden is alive and
that he does not have kidney disease requiring dialysis.
In an interview with CNN correspondent Rula Amin, Sheikh Ahmad -- who
did not want his last name revealed -- also said he does not believe
that bin Laden, part of a large and wealthy Saudi family, could be
behind the September 11 attacks against the United States.
"He is my brother. I know him. I lived with him for years. I know how
much he fears God," Sheikh Ahmad said. He and Osama have the same mother
but different fathers.
Sheikh Ahmad spoke fondly of his older brother, describing him as a
simple, deeply religious man with "a very soft heart" who "hates
injustice."
Such words stand in stark contrast to how President Bush and other world
leaders have described bin Laden, branding him the mastermind behind the
September attacks.
An estimated 3,063 people were killed when four hijacked U.S. commercial
jets crashed into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in
Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania.
"There's overwhelming evidence bin Laden was behind the attacks of
September 11," said Peter Bergen, who has written a book about bin
Laden. "If the family chooses not to believe that, that's just how
families operate."
Family says phone call indicates bin Laden is alive Sheikh Ahmad said
his mother received a call three weeks ago saying Osama was fine. He did
not say who made the phone call.
"He said they believed the phone call was credible, that Osama is
alive," said CNN's Amin.
The half brother knows bin Laden better than much of the rest of the
family, which officially denounced Osama in the mid-1990s after he
condemned the Saudi royal family for allying itself with the United
States against Iraq during the Persian Gulf War.
Sheikh Ahmad said he visited bin Laden a few times when bin Laden lived
in Sudan and he saw him in Afghanistan last year.
Sheikh Ahmad said he was "very worried" when the United States declared
him a wanted man, but his concerns have eased.
"It's easier now. We got used to it. We know any minute it's possible
that we will hear some bad news," he said.
Sheikh Ahmad spoke Arabic and his comments are based on English
transcript of the 15-minute interview. It was taped this past Tuesday in
a friend's house in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, where he lives
Half brother condemns September 11 attacks Sheikh Ahmad is a 36-year-old
married businessman who runs an advertising production company that's
part of the vast and profitable bin Laden family business empire. The
family business started in construction, expanding mosques in Mecca and
Medina and building roads and palaces for the Saudi royal family.
Sheikh Ahmad described the September 11 attacks as "terrible."
"Any Muslim wouldn't accept this," he said, adding there was "no way"
his brother could be involved in the hijackings.
When the attacks came, it was a disaster for the bin Ladens. Two dozen
of them were living in the United States, according to a family
spokesman. For their own safety, the Saudi government quickly arranged
for a charter jet that spirited them out of the country from Boston's
Logan Airport.
Since then, the bin Laden family has agonized over whether to publicly
denounce Osama's activities.
Sheikh Ahmad said he and his mother last saw bin Laden at the January
2001 wedding of one of Osama's sons in Afghanistan. It was at that
wedding that Sheikh Ahmad said his infamous brother told him that
stories he required kidney dialysis were not true.
"He loved his family and friends, gatherings. He especially adores his
mother. First comes God, then his mother," Sheikh Ahmad said.
Sheikh Ahmad was hesitant at first about doing the interview but agreed,
believing he knew a side of Osama that he wanted to share with others.
"We grew up together in the same house," he said. "Osama is known for
being a simple person, very merciful, a very soft heart. It's impossible
that anyone would sit with him and not like him or get bored. Frankly,
Osama is very close to the heart and very popular."
Asked whether he believed his brother would be captured, Sheikh Ahmad
replied, "I can't tell. As his brothers, we wish him safety."
Their mother, he said, was "worried most" about bin Laden.
"She is an expert now, more than any media person. She watched all the
news on all the different TV channels. We get her all the newspapers,
the interviews, and she is always discussing it."
Whatever his brother's fate, Sheikh Ahmad said he would like to portray
his brother should Hollywood ever make a movie about him.
Throughout the interview, Sheikh Ahmad spoke repeatedly of his bin
Laden's religious devotion.
"No joking about this, when we were very young, he would wake me up and
my sister. We were lazy, we were young, but we had to get up; he was our
older brother. He would say, 'Ahmad, get up, get up,' and we would. We
would pray with him and then just go to school, without going back to
sleep."
Sheikh Ahmad recalled going to the movies with bin Laden, seeing cowboy
and karate movies, a youthful practice that stopped when bin Laden
turned 14 and turned even deeper to religion.
He said he was not surprised his brother turned so deeply to religion.
"He is very stubborn," Sheikh Ahmad said. "When he puts his mind into
something, he will do it."
-- CNN Correspondent David Ensor contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/03/18/osama.brother/index.html
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