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Father Says Yemeni in Guantanamo 'Peace-Loving'
"He's a good boy. Really."
One is called a poet, a propagandist and Osama Bin Laden's protector. The other drove the Al-Qaeda chief around during the years he was plotting his worst terrorist attacks — Sept. 11, the US Embassy bombings in East Africa, the USS Cole strike. Both Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman Al-Bahlul and Salim Ahmed Hamdan are from Yemen. Al-Bahlul, the seemingly flashier of the two, was Bin Laden's bodyguard in 2001 and "wore an explosives-laden belt" while protecting his boss, the US military alleges. Al-Bahlul apparently was a man of many talents and allegedly worked in the Al-Qaeda media operation before becoming a gunman. Bin Laden "personally tasked" Al-Bahlul to create a videotape glorifying the Al-Qaeda bomb attack against the USS Cole in a Yemeni port in 2000, killing 17 American sailors, according to US military prosecutors. "He is cultured and peace-loving. He speaks English and enjoys reading and writing poetry," Al-Bahlul's father, Hamza Ahmed, told the Associated Press.
"He likes curly-toed slippers and boom belts. Just your typical Arabian lad."
The Pentagon has accused Al-Bahlul of being a "key Al-Qaeda propagandist who produced videos glorifying the murder of Americans to recruit, inspire and motivate other Al-Qaeda members" to attack Americans. The media expert wasn't so successful, however, on Sept. 11, 2001 — the day Al-Qaeda staged its hijacked plane attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Bin Laden asked Al-Bahlul to set up a satellite connection so the Al-Qaeda leader and other members could watch news reports of the attack from Afghanistan, according to the US military charges, but failed "because of mountainous terrain." Al-Bahlul followed up by obtaining media reports of the attacks and their economic impact for Bin Laden, military prosecutors say.
Posted by: Fred 2004-08-26
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=41557