Bin Laden oddities

Amar al Sadah, the mysterious fifth wife of Bin Laden is still being interrogated in Pakistan. I'm very interested to hear what she says. The latest speculation is that she tipped off the US about where Bin laden and his two other wives and children were hiding. Or, alternatively

The joke doing the rounds in Pakistan is that Bin laden gave himself away to the Americans as he found his life with three wives and many children too hot to handle

Also

On 13 May, the Times of India reported that Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the claim that Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in the Abbottabad compound for the past six years "is not authentic."

Source:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-13/news/29539863_1_al-sadah-abbottabad-compound-bin-laden

You'd think the Seal team would take a wife or three to get humint from. Anyway, the whole marriage arrangement sounds very bizarre:

International Channel Watch News says her marriage to Bin Laden was arranged by a prominent Al Qaeda leader in Yemen called Sheikh Mohammed Rashed Saeed Ismail.

The task of convincing the parents of Amal that Bin Laden was a suitable bridegroom lay on Ismail too. He told the parents that Bin Laden was looking for a wife and that the bridegroom was "famous and known for his piousness, humbleness, religion, strong belief, generosity and goodness. I told them that he would be a good husband for your daughter.”

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/142095/20110506/bin-laden-wife-amal-al-sadah-fifth-5th-afghanistan-yemen-9-11.htm

Granted this was just before 911, but what an interesting person this Sheikh Ismail sounds. A quick search turns up not very much on him. Will he disappear back into the shadows?

Illuminating documentary on assassinated Egyptian President Sadat

From Adam Curtis's BBC blog:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/02/sadats_dat.html#comments

'Zombie' Bin Laden could be new weapon in War on Terror

• Bin Laden more dangerous dead than alive

American Predator drones are constantly patrolling the site of Bin Laden's watery grave in case Al Qaida attempts a daring sea bed recovery. 'Officially, Bin Laden still exists and we're not going to risk terror striking out of a clear blue sea.'

A new Al Qaida video shows Bin Laden looking defiant even though he's dead and under the ocean. Fears are growing that the next terror attack could come from beneath the waves. 'This would be a Domesday scenario,' said a security source.

'Despite being dead, Osama Bin Laden is still spiritually leading Al Qaeda from the bottom of the ocean,' said a security source.

Bin Laden is sending out powerful messages to would be terrorists to act on their own. The biggest threat of terror attack comes from so-called 'lone wolf' extremists, who have never heard of 9-11 but could be inspired to carry out exactly the same attack.

This raises the prospect that Bin Laden could be brought back to life to make the world safer. The 'Zombie Bin Laden' option is being discussed behind closed doors at a top level. 'It would be better to have a Zombie Bin Laden we control, rather than a dead one under the waves that we can't,' a well-paid spook said.

Shifting loyalties in Libya

So, let me get this clear. The leader of the 'rebel' forces in Libya, al Hasidi, previously fought against the 'allies' in Afghanistan. He is commanding fighters who previously fought against US and British forces in Iraq.

Nato forces are now supporting these rebels against Gaddafi. A leader who Al Qaeda attempted to assassinate, with alleged western backing, in 1996.

Gaddafi stopped supporting terrorism, seeking WMD's and did deals with the west, including BP, and embraced Tony Blair in 2008. This apparently wasn't enough. Sends a clear signal to Iran and North Korea if they were ever tempted to deal with the Anglo-American axis...

So what does it matter if Gaddafi offers a ceasefire? He's no longer recognised by the US who only deal with the catchily-named Interim Transitional National Council.

See here.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html

Graphic debt charts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13361934