Ok so here’s the thing: since I’ve become interested in all things Qa’ida, I’ve stored thousands and thousands of articles, pictures and videos on my computer. My bad luck is that I also lost a sizeable part of my old archives (which I’m still trying to recover) a few years ago.
Anyway, I remember very well that among these lost documents, there was one picture. A pretty unique one actually, since it featured Usama bin Ladin listening to the radio with another bearded man sitting next to him (and wearing a black jacket if memory serves) in a room. Not impressed? There is more.
The said picture was taken from a TV screen where one can read a special mention: « Les attentats du 11 septembre » [The 9/11 attacks] (or something like that, can’t remember exactly). One can also notice that the TV wich released this was the French TV channel France 2. I don’t know when France 2 broadcasted this picture but given the 9/11 banner, I’d say that it was circa september-october 2001.
I’ve never seen this picture anywhere else nor do I know how the hell France 2 obtained it, but what I’m sure of is that it was bin Ladin and given his appearance/outfit (roughly the same as the picture I put for this post), I’d add that it was taken in Afghanistan and in the late 90’s-early 2000’s.
We know that Usama bin Ladin wasn’t able to watch 9/11 attacks on T.V, despite his willingness to do so, but listened to the radio instead. More precisely, he listened to the radio next to Abu’l Khayr al Misri, a senior figure of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad who joined al Qa’ida once bin Ladin and al Zawahiri joined their forces in mid 2001.
Given the 9/11 mention on the T.V screen (which shows that this picture was sent after 9/11), the look/outfit of bin Ladin (which shows that he was in Afghanistan circa early 2000’s), the fact that he was shown listening to a radio next to a man who *could* be Abu’l Khayr al Misri (if memory serves), yes, I think you got it, I have a strong feeling that this picture has been taken on 9/11.
Again, no clue as to how France 2 has been able to get this picture (it’s not like the channel had special access to al Qa’ida) and why there has been no media hype around it, but from what I can remember, it really seems genuine (not the kind of fake dead bin Ladin picture which appeared in the aftermath of his death). Maybe I’m completly wrong on this, and that even if the picture was not a fake, it was not taken on 9/11. But the elements I’ve mentioned above make me think that it is a strong possibility and I found the absence of this picture on the web kind of weird.
One last note: when I had it on my computer, I had printed the bin Ladin picture, but only a small/poor quality one, so once I get my hand on it, maybe I will scan it so you can see for yourself.
To sum up: does that ring a bell to anyone???
alleyesonjihadism 