The sons of Osama bin Laden broke their silence on Tuesday denouncing his "arbitrary killing" and burial at sea as the United States sought to question the al-Qaeda leader's widows.
Omar bin Laden called for the family members to be released, and in the shorter statement released on jihadist websites said the family had been demeaned and humiliated by his father's burial at sea Photo: AFP/GETTY
10:16PM BST 10 May 2011
In a statement given to the New York Times, the sons asked why their father "was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that the truth is revealed to the people of the world."
"We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems," it said. In a separate statement posted on jihadist sites, the sons also slammed the "criminal mission" ordered by US President Barack Obama which "obliterated an entire defenceless family."
Bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 2 after being tracked down to a Pakistani compound where the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks is believed to eluded capture for years, despite a massive global hunt.
The statements denouncing his father's killing are said to have been prepared at the direction of Omar bin Laden, 30, and also called for Pakistani authorities to release the al-Qaeda leader's three wives and children.
The United States is keen to question the three women in hopes of finding out more details of al-Qaeda's reach and organisation, as well as details of bin Laden's final years.
With the pivotal US-Pakistan relationship under severe strain, the White House has called on Islamabad to help counter growing mistrust by granting American investigators access to the women.
The US administration, which is also sifting through a trove of information and intelligence seized from bin Laden's compound, insisted it was making "progress" in obtaining more information from Pakistan.
"We continue to work with Pakistan to make sure we have access to any information that could contribute to our common goal, which is to continue our counterterrorism co-operation," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.
"We believe we're making progress and we're optimistic that we'll be able to work through any obstacles and increase our information sharing."
But Pakistan said it had received no formal request for access to the women. A Pakistani official merely said: "The family's under treatment, they are under protective custody."
Bin Laden's Yemeni wife, who was shot in the leg, has told Pakistani investigators that they lived in the compound where bin Laden was killed in the garrison town of Abbottabad – near Islamabad – for five years.
Omar bin Laden called for the family members to be released, and in the shorter statement released on jihadist websites said the family had been demeaned and humiliated by his father's burial at sea.
"It is unacceptable – humanely and religiously – to dispose of a person with such importance and status among his people, by throwing his body into the sea in that way," the statement translated by the SITE monitoring group said.
al-Qaeda again called on Muslims to avenge their leader's death, warning Americans will "pay the price" for Obama's decision to kill him, SITE said.
Al-Fajr Media Centre, which SITE calls the exclusive online distributor of al-Qaeda propaganda, said the assassination was a "big mistake" and a "serious sin," and that Obama had brought disaster on the American people.
No comments:
Post a Comment