Thursday, May 3, 2012

Documents recovered from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad

More than a dozen de-classified documents recovered from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad were released today by CTC at West Point. A few highlights I found interesting:

Bin Laden would like to see Anwar al-Awlaki's resume:
How excellent would it be if you ask brother Basir to send us the resume, in detail and lengthy, of brother Anwar al-'Awlaqi, as well as the facts he relied on when recommending him, while informing him that his recommendation is considered. However, we would like to be reassured more.
In a letter from bin Laden to Mukhtar Abu al-Zubayr, the head of Al Shabaab in Somalia, bin Laden rejects al-Zubayr's request to formally link Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab. Instead, he requested that they keep the definition of the relationship ambiguous:
But there remains the situation of the brothers on your side and their talking about their relationship with al-Qa'ida, if asked. It would be better for them to say that there is a relationship with al-Qa'ida which is simply a brotherly Islamic connection and nothing more, which would neither deny nor prove. 

Interestingly, in February 2012, less than a year after bin Laden's death, Zawahiri announced a formal unity between Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab. 

Finally, in an extremely long rant about media plans for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, American-born Al Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn expresses dislike for jihadi forums:
As for the Jihadi forums, it is repulsive to most of the Muslims, or closed to them. It also distorts the face of Qa'ida, due to what you know of bigotry, the sharp tone that characterizes most of the participants in these forums. 

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