Osama Letter Found On Dead Man

CBSNews.com ^ | June 3, 2003 | CBS/AP

[LurkedLongEnough]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 3, 2003

If the letter is confirmed as being from bin Laden, it not only would provide evidence the terrorist leader was alive late last year, but that there are ties between the Riyadh bombings and bin Laden's al Qaeda.

(CBS/AP) A suspected militant killed by Saudi police last weekend was carrying a 6-month-old letter allegedly written by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi newspaper reported Tuesday.

The body of the man identified as Yosif Salih Fahd Ala'yeeri, one of 19 militants wanted for alleged ties to al Qaeda, was searched after he was shot dead following a police chase Saturday, al-Watan newspaper reported, quoting informed sources.

"The sources revealed that a folded handwritten letter, stained with blood, signed with the name bin Laden ... was found in the pocket of the killed," the paper reported.

It said the letter, dated in the Arabic calendar, was a season's greetings on the Muslim Eid al-Fitr feast, which was celebrated in December. It also gave a "blessing of the achievements of the groups associated with (bin Laden)," the sources told the newspaper.

The addressee could not be read because the letter was stained with Ala'yeeri's blood, Al-Watan said.

Ala'yeeri was among 19 al Qaeda operatives wanted by Saudi authorities following the discovery of a weapons cache in the capital on May 6. The government said at the time that the militants, 17 of whom were Saudis, were believed to take orders from al Qaeda leader bin Laden.

The group was also linked to the May 12 bombings at foreign housing compounds in Riyadh that killed 35 people, including nine attackers.

If the letter is confirmed as being from bin Laden, it not only would provide evidence the terrorist leader was alive late last year, but that there are ties between the Riyadh bombings and bin Laden's al Qaeda.

Saudi officials could not be reached for comment. There was no way to independently verify if the letter really came from bin Laden.

Four of the six identified Riyadh bombers were among the 19 wanted, according to Saudi authorities.

Thirteen of the group are still sought by the authorities, including an Iraqi with Kuwaiti and Canadian citizenship.

The newspaper said police worked for hours to detonate explosives Ala'yeeri had strapped to his body. He was also carrying four identification cards, a driver's license that does not belong to him, and a global positioning device, the paper said.

Saturday's car chase began at a checkpoint outside Turba, 124 miles north of the northern city of Hail.

The Interior Ministry official said that Ala'yeeri and his companion threw a hand grenade at the police during the chase, killing two officers and injuring two others.

Ala'yeeri's companion was identified as Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Abdullah Alshabrami, who escaped but was later arrested north of Hail, the ministry said.

In an interview with the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Ala'yeeri's father said he had not seen his son for years.

"He is dead now, in a way that we wouldn't have hoped to see any of our country's sons go," Saleh Ala'yeeri said from his home in Dammam, in the eastern part of the Kingdom.

Also, Saudi authorities in the southern province of Najran foiled "a large operation to sell (illegal) weapons" last Thursday, a statement by the ministry issued Monday said.

The authorities traced Saeed bin Faraj Al-Mihri, a Saudi national, as he was trying to sell a truck load of Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition in Najran, some 500 miles south of the capital, the statement said. Al-Mihri received 135,000 riyals ($36,000) for the 100 rifles and the ammunition. But he was encircled as he was working out the deal, and fired at the police, hitting one police vehicle. Al-Mihri was shot and died of his wounds in the hospital, the statement said.

Najran is on the border with Yemen, which is often cited by Saudi authorities as a source of smuggled weapons.

[Dustbunny]

Interesting

[McGavin999]

See, the Saudis know how to deal with these guys....kill them. None of those messy things like Gitmo, just exterminate them like the cockroaches they are.

[VOA]

bump

[Redcloak]

The addressee could not be read because the letter was stained with Ala'yeeri's blood, Al-Watan said.

Reading text under a stain like this is pathetically easy. (Use a light at the correct wavelength, usually in the infrared, and the writing pops right out.) It sounds like the House of Saud is busy covering up their terrorist ties again.

[b4its2late]

There was no way to independently verify if the letter really came from bin Laden.

[JmyBryan]

And of course, if true, this means these bombings have nothing to do with the Iraq war.

[Hatteras]

"The addressee could not be read because the letter was stained with Ala'yeeri's blood, Al-Watan said."

Give it to Gil Grissom, he'll find the addressee...

What?...

I SAID, "GIVE IT TO GIL..." oh, never mind...

[NYC Republican]

Saddam and UBL are dead, have been dead for a while.

It boggles the mind that Bush doesn't come out and say publicly that 'as far as we know- they're both dead, that these fake videos and notes are just that -fake. That would put the burden of proof on these dead men to prove otherwise.

It would remove Daschle's weapon of saying that we've lost the war on terrorism cause they're still alive. If they DO come out of hiding, we may take these cockroaches out at that point.

[b4its2late]

Saddam and UBL are dead, have been dead for a while.

My feelings exactly, and I have been attacked many times for posting ..... "He's dead, Jim!"

Not from you, but from others.

[NYC Republican]

"He's dead, Jim!"


LOVE that phrase.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

And in his left pocket they found another letter saying, "Yosif Salih Fahd Ala'yeeri, you may have won $20 million dollars!" The mysterious sender is now being sought as a possible monetary supporter of terrorism. Authorities have published a mug shot of the suspect:

[okie01]

"It would remove Daschle's weapon of saying that we've lost the war on terrorism cause they're still alive."

But, if it was proven that both bin Laden and Saddam were feeding sand fleas, Daschle and the Democrats would contend the War on Terror was now over and we should bring the troops home and invest the "peace dividend" in social programs.

Accordingly, it may be that the Bush administration finds it more convenient to keep the ghosts of bin Laden and Saddam afloat...

[oceanview]

Saddam is definitely not dead. Did you catch the Fox News report tonight, a little blurb during OReilly on what should have been the #1 story of the day really. Just today, how many weeks after the war ended, they are excavating the site of the second decapitation strike at the restaurant. Just today, no rush I guess to see if Saddam was in there. Makes perfect sense to me. LOL!

[NYC Republican]

"But, if it was proven that both bin Laden and Saddam were feeding sand fleas, Daschle and the Democrats would contend the War on Terror was now over and we should bring the troops home and invest the "peace dividend" in social programs"

Yeah, that's a good point, but can't Dubya say that we still have others on the loose, who are equally evil, in Iraq and Afghanistan? Guess it wouldn't hold much water, would it?

[steve-b]

What evidence is there that the letter was written late last year? (Written dates or other statements in the text don't count. I can write a letter about my June 2257 visit to the Io Jump Point.)