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Book claims Bin Laden foiled in bid to see 9/11 on live TV
Osama Bin Laden requested a satellite TV dish be installed in his Afghanistan hideaway so he could watch the September 11, 2001 terror attacks as they happened, according to his former bodyguard. But the Al Qaeda leader was unable to get a signal in the mountainous terrain surrounding his base in Kandahar so couldn't watch the two hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, claimed Nasser Al Bahri. The 37-year-old said: 'He asked for satellite TV to be able to follow the bombing.'Mr Al Bahri, who was known as Abu Jandal (The Killer), served Bin Laden for three years before being arrested in Yemen ahead of the 9/11 attacks. But he claims to know Bin Laden told his media chief Hassan Al-Bahloul: 'It is very important that we are able to watch the news today.' Bin Laden also instructed Mr Al Bahri to shoot him dead if he was on the verge of being captured by Western forces, the former bodyguard said. 'I would rather receive two bullets in the head than to be taken prisoner,' he told him. 'I want to die a martyr, but certainly not in prison.' Mr Al Bahri, who has renounced his extremist past, now regrets not having shot Bin Laden dead when he had the chance. He said: 'Today I wish I had used it (the gun), but at the time he was someone very important for me. Mr Al Bahri believes his elusive former master is in good health and remains at large under tribal protection in Waziristan on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. 'His death, even if it was not announced immediately for internal reasons, would end up being known in jihadist circles and on the internet,' he said. Mr al Bahri was the first person to help the CIA link Bin Laden to the September 11 hijackers, who he said were his 'friends'. He claimed he knew nothing of their intention to strike the U.S., but recalled first meeting their leader Mohammed Atta in a Pakistan safe house. 'Atta was playing video games on a PlayStation where he was flying a plane,' he said. Mr Al Bahri's claims are made in his book, In The Shadow Of Bin Laden, which he wrote with French journalist Georges Malbrunot. He has been refused permission to enter France to promote the book. Posted by: ryuge 2010-04-16 |
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