Posted on 03/08/2004 2:36:35 PM PST by Fun Bob
Bin Laden cast as family man who loves volleyball, hates ice
Documentary focuses on Canadian family that once lived with fugitive al-Qaida chief
Updated: 10:24 a.m. ET March 05, 2004
OTTAWA - A documentary about a Canadian family closely linked to Osama bin Laden portrays the al-Qaida chief as a well-meaning family man who banned ice in drinks, loves volleyball and has trouble controlling his children.
The program, broadcast on Canadas CBC television Wednesday night, lifted the veil on the private life of the worlds most wanted man, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks in the United States.
It included lengthy interviews with the widow and children of Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-born friend of bin Laden and an accused al-Qaida financier.
Khadr was killed in a gun battle with Pakistani police last October, and his son, Omar, 17, is in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, accused of involvement in the death of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
He has issues with his wife and ... his kids
Another son, 21-year-old Abdurahman Khadr, was released from Guantanamo Bay late last year and now lives in Toronto. In the documentary he described bin Laden as quite normal.
He has issues with his wife, and he has issues with his kids, financial issues, you know, the kids arent listening, the kids arent doing this and that. It comes down to (the fact) hes a father and hes a person, he said.
Khadrs 23-year-old daughter, Zaynab, said bin Laden -- who attended her wedding in 1999 -- was athletic.
He loved playing volleyball. And he loved horse riding. ... Kids played around him.... And (when) theyd go shooting, hed go with them. If he missed his (shot), theyd laugh at him and stuff like that, she said.
Abdurahman and Zaynab said the al-Qaida leader loved horses and camels -- as did his children.
Their father had promised them that he would get them a horse if they memorized the Koran. They were so anxious to finish memorizing it so that they could get a horse, which shows you that theyre normal children too, said Abdurahman.
Ahmed Said Khadr emigrated to Canada in 1977 and got married there, but went to Afghanistan to fight Soviet troops after the 1979 invasion. His family joined him later.
Family lived in bin Laden compound
The Khadrs lived in the bin Laden family compound in the Afghan town of Jalalabad for several years, leaving soon before U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan in 2001. One son, 14-year-old Abdul, was paralyzed in the fight that killed his father.
Most members of the family -- apart from Omar and Abdurahman -- now live in Pakistan but still retain their Canadian citizenship. Abdurahman is the only family member to renounce al-Qaida and bin Ladens tactics.
Zaynab said bin Laden imposed many restrictions on his three wives and their children and banned the use of electricity in their part of the compound.
He didnt allow them to drink cold water ... because he wanted them to be prepared (so that if) one day theres no cold water, theyd be able to survive and it wouldnt be so difficult for them, she said.
Abdurahman recalled: He was against using ice, and he actually forbade it (for) the people that lived around him. ... He didnt want them to be spoiled.
Ahmed Said Khadr was arrested in Pakistan in 1996 on suspicion of financing a fatal bombing of the Egyptian Embassy there. He insisted he was an innocent charity worker, and was released after then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien intervened in the case.
We are an al-Qaida family
I admit it that we are an al-Qaida family. We had connections to al-Qaida, said Abdurahman Khadr, who says he resisted his fathers urgings to become a suicide bomber.
But another son, 22-year-old Abdullah Khadr, backed the idea of martyrdom for Islam.
Every Muslim dreams of being a shahid (martyr) for Islam, he said. Everybody dreams of this, even a Christian would like to die for their religion.
The documentary offered no clues on when the Khadr family had last seen bin Laden, who is still the subject of a manhunt in the tribal areas that straddle Afghanistan and Pakistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
miserable failure miserable failure miserable failure miserable failure war criminal
I smell a little onyon, yessir I do.
Reads like an Onion Parody
Yo, Osama!
Turn-Offs: mean people, kidney failure, Rumsfeld
Yeah! Sorry to disagree - I think our forces are about to put that SOB'ing POS on ice real soon!!!
Not so, I saw him at a Red Wings game back in '99 and caught him ice fishing for perch 3 weeks ago off Metro Beach here in Detroit.....
He's just like all of us! He is one of us! I've got to go get some kleenex now to wipe my eyes.
New sitcom for CBS?
'spose with his height he'd be a decent middle blocker...
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Every Muslim dreams of being a shahid (martyr) for Islam, he said. Everybody dreams of this, even a Christian would like to die for their religion.
Not so. Christians are asked to turn the other cheek. It is a difficult act at times (but it is not the only standard we have to aim for). This is not the same as "dying for their religion". A Christian martyr would die because he was oppressed but refused to surrender his belief in Jesus Christ. In some muslim nations, that is just the punishment for a muslim who converts to Christianity. We may be wiling to do this, but it in no way means we WANT to do this.
One who, by his death, bears witness to the truth of the gospel; one who is put to death for his religion; as, Stephen was the first Christian martyr. --Chaucer.
Do Islamofascist muslims die by their own hand or are they put to death? Are Islamofascists executed for following Islam or because they commit acts of violence?
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