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Mr Osama, are you
OK?
By B Raman
Dear Mr
bin Laden,
Are you OK?
One has not
heard from you since October 29, 2004, when you
sent a recorded message through al-Jazeera on the
eve of the US presidential elections.
One
knows that such periodic spells of silence are not
unusual in the interest of your physical security.
But whenever there are long spells of silence, the
rumor mills start over-working.
This had
happened in the past and this is happening now,
but this time, the rumors are stronger and more
persistent than before. In the last week of April,
there were frenzied rumors of your death following
a posting by an unidentified person on a web site
identified with the al-Qaeda network. Not much
credibility was given to the rumors in the end.
In an analysis of these rumors, the
well-respected Northeast Intelligence Network, a
non-governmental online terrorism analysis group
of the US, said as follows on April 29:
Analysts at the Northeast
Intelligence Network read, translated and
reviewed the message approximately 45 minutes
after it was originally posted by a newly
registered poster to that forum who has
virtually no other posting record. Based on the
manner in which the message was posted and the
status of the poster, government intelligence
analysts are privately looking at the
possibility that the message was deliberately
posted to garner attention. Regardless of the
poster or intent, it is important to note that
the message, written in Arabic, does not
claim that bin Laden is dead. Rather, the
message "waxes poetic" over what is expected to
happen when the al-Qaeda leader
dies. I was inclined to feel that the
posting regarding your death might have been made
by the US intelligence as part of its
psychological warfare to create confusion and
demoralization in the ranks of your followers. The
rumors died down.
But doubts have again
arisen after one received reports on the sermons
delivered in some madrassas (seminaries) of
the tribal region in Pakistan and Afghanistan
during the last two Fridays. In the sermons, the
mullahs have prayed to God for your good health
and success against the US and Israel. There is
nothing unusual in that. They were doing so even
in the past.
But what is intriguing now is
that their sermons also included prayers to God
for the good health and success of your sons in
the jihad against the US and Israel. Why suddenly
these prayers for your sons?
Are you
dying, if not already dead? Is something seriously
wrong with your health?
Please send a
message to al-Jazeera quickly through your usual
handlers in Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence. Otherwise, this will add further
confusion in the minds of the already much
confused al-Qaeda watchers.
Warm regards
and waiting anxiously for signs of life or of
confirmed death, Yours sincerely,
B Raman
To:
Mr Osama bin
Laden,
Amir, al-Qaeda,
Care of General
Pervez Musharraf,
President and Chief of the
Army Staff,
Islamabad,
Pakistan.
B Raman additional secretary
(retired), cabinet secretariat, government of
India, New Delhi, and, presently, director,
Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai, and
distinguished fellow and convener, Observer
Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter. Email:
itschen36@gmail.com ) |
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