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Issue 265, Friday 27 May 2011 - 23 Jumad al-Akhar 1432 Usama Bin Ladin executed by the US By Sabir Rahman & Abdul Adil Usama Bin Ladin, leader of Al Qa’ida, was executed by the US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 1. He was not armed. According to his 12-year-old daughter, the US forces captured him first and then shot him dead. US President Barack Obama did not inform Pakistan of the raid as he did not trust his ally. Bin Ladin’s body was buried at sea. Muslim scholars said this was against Islamic law as a body can only be buried at sea under exceptional circumstances and in this case it was not so. No evidence of his death has been provided, neither the photographs of his dead body nor his DNA. Announcing the assassination of Bin Ladin late that night, Obama said, “Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.” Later in his speech he added, “ ...shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of Bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.” Obama explained how the killing was done. “After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.” At a Press briefing a few hours later, White House counter-terrorism adviser and former senior CIA official, John Brennan, told journalists, “In addition to Osama bin Laden, three adult males were killed in the raid. We believe two were the couriers and the third was bin Laden’s adult son. There were several women and children at the compound. One woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant. Two other women were injured.” At the press briefing a journalist asked, “But how was he killed? Where? What occurred at the compound?” The White House official answered: “As the President said this evening, bin Laden was killed in a firefight as our operators came onto the compound.” Journalist Question: “Was bin Laden involved in firing himself or defending himself? And then any chronology of the raid itself?” White House Official: “He did resist the assault force. And he was killed in a firefight.” By May 3 the official version had changed. There was no firefight. White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, said, “...bin Laden’s wife, rushed the US assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed.” By May 9 the White House had released a video clip of Bin Ladin apparently watching himself on a video. Carney said, “The point of releasing them was to prevent the release of videos in the future that would allow al Qaeda some sort of propaganda achievement; to make the point that we got these, procured these at the compound where bin Laden was living and that we know now what he was up to.” On May 13 Carney said, “The US government has had access to Osama bin Laden’s wives [in Pakistan]. I don’t have any information for you beyond that.” By 14 and 15 May there were allegations that the US had uncovered a collection of pornographic materials which was amongst the items seized at Bin Ladin’s home. But these allegations were not on the White House official site. Obama accused elements of Pakistani Government or intelligence agencies having given support network for Bin Ladin. However, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yusuf Gilani, responded angrily against the accusations in his belated address to the National Assembly. “It is disingenuous for anyone to blame Pakistan or state institutions of Pakistan including the ISI and the armed forces for being in cahoots with Al Qa’ida,” he said on May 9. “It was Al Qa’ida and its affiliates that carried out hundreds of suicide bombers in Pakistan and also targeted political leaders, state institutions, the ISI and the General Headquarters,” retorted Gilani. On the contrary, argued the Prime Minister, Pakistani agents had passed on intelligence to their American counterparts which had ultimately led to the location of hideout of Bin Ladin. There are many questions that Gilani did not answer. How was it possible for the American helicopters to fly undetected from Afghanistan to Abbottabad? It was only after one of the helicopters crashed in Bin Ladin’s compound that the Pakistani military were alerted and by the time their airforce scrambled the Americans were out of Pakistani airspace. The Americans took Bin Ladin’s dead body. Three men and a woman were killed. One of the three wives Bin Ladin was injured by US forces firing at her leg. Thirteen other women, eight or nine children survived the attack. The US Navy Seals had been authorised by Obama to fight their way out of Pakistan including killing Pakistani soldiers and anyone who would get in their way. The Muslim Council of Britain Secretary General, Farooq Murad, said: “Few will mourn the reported death of Osama bin Laden, least of all Muslims...our thoughts must be with the families of all those who suffered in the terrorist attacks around the world as well as of thousands of innocent lives lost in the wars against terrorism. It is unfortunate that his death has deprived them of the opportunity to see him brought to justice in the court of law.” The US’s second version of events which admitted Bin Ladin was unarmed when shot, led the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to feel “...very uncomfortable…” Since the Bin Ladin killing, Pakistan’s rulers have had to deal with the embarrassment of an unannounced, unauthorised, armed, incursion onto their soil, and questions as to why they were unaware of Bin Ladin residing in Abbottabad, less than a mile from a military academy and only 62 miles from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Al Qa’ida, who accepted that Bin Ladin had died, warned of revenge. On May 13, came the reprisal suicide bombing at a paramilitary police training centre in north-west Pakistan killed more than 80, and dozens were injured, in the attack in the Shaqbadar area of Charsadda district, about 20 miles from Peshawar. The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility. |