Osama bin Laden tried and failed to set up a satellite TV link-up on the day of the September 11 attacks from his Afghan hideout to watch the strikes as they happened, according to his former bodyguard.
Osama Bin Laden had requested a satellite
dish to be installed in his hideout in Kandahar.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
However, due to the rugged, mountainous terrain, he was not able to get a signal and so failed to view the planes striking the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York.
"It is very important that we are able to watch the news today," he told his media chief, Hassan al-Bahloul.
Mr al Bahri also claims that the al-Qaeda leader is still alive and well.
Mr al Bahri was the first person to help the CIA link bin Laden to the September 11 hijackers, who were his "friends" before the strikes, although he knew nothing of their mission; He first met Mohammed Atta, the mastermind, in a safe house in Pakistan where "he was playing video games on a Play Station where he was flying a plane".
Asked whether bin Laden was still alive, he said: "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 he believed bin Laden was under tribal protection in Waziristan.
"(The tribes') allegiance is more religious than tribal, which is a bonus for bin Laden, who built them roads and houses twenty years ago," he said.
As his bodyguard, bin Laden entrusted Mr al Bahri, who was known as Abu Jandal [the killer] with a pistol, telling him to shoot him dead if he was on the verge of capture by Westerners. "I would rather receive two bullets in the head rather than to be taken prisoner. I want to die a martyr, but certainly not in prison," he told him.
"Today I wish I had used it, but at the time he was someone very important for me," he said.
His claims are published in his book, In the Shadow of Bin Laden, written with French journalist Georges Malbrunot
Mr al Bahri recounts the sometimes surreal details and conversations he had with the elusive Islamist leader who has miraculously evaded capture.
After the al Qaeda bomb attacks in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam in Kenya, the bodyguard was troubled by the civilian casualties. "And the Americans who imposed an embargo on Iraq, how many innocent deaths did they make ?" he asked.
"OK, sheikh, but must we compare ourselves to our enemies?" he dared reply.
Bin Laden spoke no more of the matter.
He also described ben Laden's obsession with black stallions, which he would stop at buy if he passed on the road. He preached the virtues of honey, which he said could cure most ailments.
In an interview with a French newspaper, Mr al Bahri said the September 11 attacks were "one of the darkest days of my life". After serving bin Laden for three years, he was arrested in Yemen and in prison when the strikes took place.
"Jihad is not about attacking civilians," said Mr al Bahri, who was refused permission to enter France to promote his book.