The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has revealed 470,000 documents, including audio and video files, as well as documents found in the last hideout of Al-Qaeda leader and founder, Osama bin Laden, before he was killed in Pakistan's Abbottabad.
The documents highlight the passion of the man, who topped the US list of the most wanted persons, for documentaries and funny videos, as well as footage of television programs and cartoons.
Among the files found in bin Laden’s hideout is a video clip titled, “The Real Captain Majed”, which shows extracts from behind the scenes of the production of the famous Japanese cartoon series. Another video clip entitled, “Osama Al-Muwallad shoots the photographer” depicts how the former Saudi Ittihad player Osama al-Muwallad attacked one of the TV photographers during a match in his club.
Documents revealed by the CIA have also shown letters, in which Bin Laden asked for information about “jihad in Turkey”. Written files included dozens of books by Ibn Taymiyyah, along with a lecture by a hardline preacher.
The documents also emphasized Bin Laden’s great interest in the suicide bombings in Iraq between 2005 and 2006.
The Guardian quoted the CIA as saying that it had released the files “in the interest of transparency and to enhance public understanding of al-Qaida and [bin Laden].”
One 19-page document describes an offer by Iran to provide al-Qaeda with “money, arms” and “training in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon, in exchange for striking American interests in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf”, according to the Guardian, quoting The Long War Journal, a US-based website, which has received some material in advance and reported that the documents give new details of the terrorist group’s relationship with Iran.
The documents confirmed the previously reported visits by Osama bin Laden to Western countries, including his visit to Britain as a teenager for treatment, when he said that he discovered that the West community was “a morally loose society”. He returned the following year for study, spending about 10 weeks in Oxford to study English.
