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Arabia
Father Says Yemeni in Guantanamo 'Peace-Loving'
2004-08-26
"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

#4  I hate to put this sort of info out into the open.... but did yawl realize curlytoedslippers.com is avilable? Anyone care to create a RB spec fund?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-08-26 5:44:39 PM  

#3  Peace means submission to Islam. The peace of submission, not the western term for Peace of non-conflict. So the father is basically saying his son is a Jihadist which makes sense if they're rubbing elbows with Bin Laden.

My question is how good a bodyguard one would be while wearing an explosives laden belt. I mean its one thing to take a bullet for Bin Laden, but its another to have that bullet cause you to explode, increasing the changes Binnie is killed.
Posted by: RJSchwarz   2004-08-26 11:57:00 AM  

#2  I'm really starting to flinch when people talk about "peace". These guys are ruining a perfectly good word.
Posted by: BH   2004-08-26 10:29:16 AM  

#1  
He speaks English and enjoys reading and writing poetry

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I like killing infidels
Especially the Jew.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester   2004-08-26 7:59:12 AM  

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