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Osama bin Laden documents reveal intimate correspondence with family Osama bin Laden documents reveal intimate correspondence with family
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Related: US releases more than 100 documents recovered from Osama bin Laden raidRelated: US releases more than 100 documents recovered from Osama bin Laden raid
Osama bin Laden’s declassified document trove reveals him as a dedicated family man who worries about his four wives, 20 children and other relatives and who sometimes issues detailed instructions about how they should behave. Osama bin Laden’s declassified document hoard reveals him as a dedicated family man who worries about his four wives, 20 children and other relatives and who sometimes issues detailed instructions about how they should behave.
“By God, I miss you so much,” he writes in an undated letter to his daughter Umm Muadh. He asks how her son is progressing with his studies of the Qu’ran and other school subjects. “What is his latest funny news?” he asks. The letter is short, he says, because “the power keeps going on and off” – something anyone living in electricity-starved Pakistan would know all too well. “By God, I miss you so much,” he writes in an undated letter to his daughter Umm Muadh. He asks how her son is progressing with his studies of the Qur’an and other school subjects. “What is his latest funny news?” he asks. The letter is short, he says, because “the power keeps going on and off” – something anyone living in electricity-starved Pakistan would know all too well.
The al-Qaida leader had long exchanges with his son Hamza and Hamza’s mother Khayriyah, who lived under house arrest in Iran for years after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. “My beloved father, I was separated from you when I was a small child, not yet 13, but I am older now, and have attained manhood,” Hamza wrote in 2009.The al-Qaida leader had long exchanges with his son Hamza and Hamza’s mother Khayriyah, who lived under house arrest in Iran for years after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. “My beloved father, I was separated from you when I was a small child, not yet 13, but I am older now, and have attained manhood,” Hamza wrote in 2009.
“You might not recognize me when you meet me, as my features have changed. Praise God, I live a stable life, and God has blessed me with a pious wife, and she has blessed me with a son who I gave your name, Usamah, and a daughter who I named after the mother, Khayriyah.”“You might not recognize me when you meet me, as my features have changed. Praise God, I live a stable life, and God has blessed me with a pious wife, and she has blessed me with a son who I gave your name, Usamah, and a daughter who I named after the mother, Khayriyah.”
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Khadijh, one of Bin Laden’s daughters, describes the difficulties of communicating with the world’s most wanted man. “I got your message approximately nine months ago and took great delight in it, especially your advice, which is indispensible to us. I wrote you a message and sent it but it later became clear that it did not reach you.” Khadijh, one of Bin Laden’s daughters, describes the difficulties of communicating with the world’s most wanted man. “I got your message approximately nine months ago and took great delight in it, especially your advice, which is indispensable to us. I wrote you a message and sent it but it later became clear that it did not reach you.”
Other children ask him about siblings they have not seen for years, or never met.Other children ask him about siblings they have not seen for years, or never met.
Hamza described the pain of eight years of separation. “My eyes still remember the last time they saw you, when you were under the olive tree and you gave every one of us a Muslim rosary, God remembers this, then you bid us farewell and we left, and it was as if we pulled out our livers and left them there.”Hamza described the pain of eight years of separation. “My eyes still remember the last time they saw you, when you were under the olive tree and you gave every one of us a Muslim rosary, God remembers this, then you bid us farewell and we left, and it was as if we pulled out our livers and left them there.”
In an undated letter another of his sons addresses him as “my precious father, my beloved Shaykh, and my dear Emir, may God protect you and take care of you”.In an undated letter another of his sons addresses him as “my precious father, my beloved Shaykh, and my dear Emir, may God protect you and take care of you”.
In 2008, Bin Laden recorded a video letter to his (unnamed) wife stating his last wishes:In 2008, Bin Laden recorded a video letter to his (unnamed) wife stating his last wishes:
“My will: If I get killed, and you want to return to your family, then that is OK, but you have to raise my children properly, and to watch them, and be careful of bad company for them, especially after puberty, especially the girls ... So be very careful about them and if you can marry them to mujahideen (fighters), then that is best, or else to good people. “My will: If I get killed, and you want to return to your family, then that is OK, but you have to raise my children properly, and to watch them, and be careful of bad company for them, especially after puberty, especially the girls … So be very careful about them and if you can marry them to mujahideen [fighters], then that is best, or else to good people.
“As for you, you are the apple of my eye, and the most precious thing that I have in this world. If you want to marry after me, I have no objection, but I really want for you to be my wife in paradise, and the woman, if she marries two men, is given a choice on Judgment Day to be be with one of them.” “As for you, you are the apple of my eye, and the most precious thing that I have in this world. If you want to marry after me, I have no objection, but I really want for you to be my wife in paradise, and the woman, if she marries two men, is given a choice on Judgment Day to be with one of them.”
Bin Laden also took a close and excited interest in the marriage plans of his son Khalid to the daughter of a “martyred” al-Qaida commander and corresponded with the bride’s mother.Bin Laden also took a close and excited interest in the marriage plans of his son Khalid to the daughter of a “martyred” al-Qaida commander and corresponded with the bride’s mother.
In 2010, Bin Laden wrote to Khayriyah: “(H)ow long have I waited for your departure from Iran.” He told her that if she had visited a dentist there, she would need to have any filings removed as they might have been used to implant a tracking device that could compromise his security. In 2010, Bin Laden wrote to Khayriyah: “[H]ow long have I waited for your departure from Iran.” He told her that if she had visited a dentist there, she would need to have any filings removed as they might have been used to implant a tracking device that could compromise his security.
It was clearly a continuing preoccupation: in September that year he wrote to two of his sons and their mother, saying: “Unfortunately our security circumstances do not allow to meet up in one place at this particular stage. However, we will arrange a secure location for you to stay, with God’s permission, and that would take us some time to arrange.”It was clearly a continuing preoccupation: in September that year he wrote to two of his sons and their mother, saying: “Unfortunately our security circumstances do not allow to meet up in one place at this particular stage. However, we will arrange a secure location for you to stay, with God’s permission, and that would take us some time to arrange.”