Osama Bin Laden

By Alan Fisher in Americas on May 9th, 2011
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

Before World War II, on the nice spring and summer days, the people of Washington would take their picnics and lunch on the lawn at the White House.

The fences that now surround the most powerful symbol in the world’s most powerful country appeared much later.

Today, throughout the city, the stars and stripes hang from buildings, and balconies and flagpoles. They are more than normal because this is a country still soaking in the news that Osama bin Laden is dead. Celebrating would be too strong a word. They did in the immediate aftermath but most people recognise that the operation in Abbottabad is not the end of things.

It dominates the newspapers and the Sunday talk shows. What it means for the so-called ‘War on Terror’, the campaign in Afghanistan, for the President and the country.

I first came to Washington DC, 20 years ago this very weekend.

By Teymoor Nabili in Americas on May 5th, 2011
Osama bin Laden t-shirts for sale at Ground Zero [Reuters]

'Closure' is as American as Hollywood and junk food. So are blood lust, confession and emotional outpourings of every hue; so when it came to pass that Osama bin Laden finally met his end, it was no suprise to see people of all ages and backgrounds jumping at the opportunity to declare closure, and indulge in an orgy of unprecedented emotional rawness and richness.

As I watched President Obama lead the dancing in the streets around the site of New York's twin towers, it was certainly tempting to entertain cosmic notions of universal karma coming full circle, and of just desserts being served; but perusing the volumes of personal anecdotes and reams of psychic cleansing that drenched the pages of the national and international media I couldn't help but wonder whether all this actually had anything to do with Bin Laden at all, or even with the "war on terror", national security or the victims of the 9/11 continuum, American or otherwise.

By Imran Khan in Asia on May 4th, 2011

In this part of the world, a tourist attraction is in the making.

The house where Osama Bin Laden was killed is surrounded by news crews and locals.

Young men smoke and offer up opinions to anyone with a pen or a camera.

They come from all over town to take pictures of the compound ... a gruesome souvenir.

I'm surprised by the size of the house, it dwarfs the rest of the buildings.

To be honest it looks like a prison compound from the outside.

One local I spoke to  told me that "I live local and you couldn't walk past this building without some security guard stopping you..I'd ask them who lived here. They'd reply a Pathaan. I always thought it was strange."

By Imran Khan in Asia on May 3rd, 2011
Photo by AFP

By now acres of newsprint, gigabytes of internet space and hours of television have been dedicated to the death of the world's most wanted man. 

I arrived as part of a legion of journalists descending on the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Everyone has a theory; everyone wants to scoop the world.

Osama Bin Laden has had us gripped for a full decade now. Plenty has been written about his legacy and many have talked about his role in shaping world events. But very little has been written about what sort of Pakistan bin Laden leaves behind.

A firm sense of frustration emanating from the Pakistani people is the enduring legacy of bin Laden's and the West's actions. 

In any village, in any suburb, in any enclave of this vast and varied land you will find many for whom bi

By Alan Fisher in Europe on May 2nd, 2011
Photo by AFP

In the middle of a roundabout, outside Atocha railway station in Madrid, there is a memorial to the dead and to the victims of Osama bin Laden.

It marks the day, March 11 2004, when death arrived at the station.

Bombs planted on an early morning commuter train exploded. The moment the flames and the horror ripped through the station was captured on CCTV - the scene made more chilling by the absence of sound.

There were three trains attacked that day.

The blasts from 10 backpacks filled with dynamite and nails killed 192 people and injured more than 1800.

The police slowly made the connections and it became clear to them that those responsible for the attacks were supporters and followers of bin Laden.  

Dead, dying and injured

By Kamal Hyder in Asia on February 10th, 2011

When the Taliban movement took off in the mid 1990’s they had no support from Osama Bin Laden or his outfit al-Qaeda.
The Taliban agenda was introverted and interested only in restoring security and stability within the confines of the Afghan frontiers.

However, al-Qaeda’s agenda was more regional or perhaps even global.

Many Arab Mujahideen, or Holy Warriors as they were known by the US, came from far away lands in North Africa, including Algeria, Morocco, Libya and even Egypt.

The Afghan war provided a window of opportunity for the despotic Arab regimes to send their trouble-makers to fight a war in a distant land, and please Washington in supplying the fighters for America’s holy war against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

It was like killing two birds with one stone.

After a heroic struggle, and with help from the Arab fighters, the Russians withdrew from Afghanistan and the country plunged into civil war.

By Imran Khan in Asia on July 7th, 2010

Standing in the valley I look to the North East and Afghanistan.

The Tora Bora mountains seem to push towards the sky and even in July ominous clouds lurk overhead.

The Pakistani army have brought me to Khurram agency in the remote tribal belt in the North West of the country.

It's stunning, rugged and everything you'd expect it to be.

The Tora Bora mountains was the site of Osama Bin Laden's last stand.

Bloody battle

According to some accounts, in December 2001 bin Laden narrowly escaped coalition fire here before he fled to Pakistan.

Since then Pakistan has seen a wave of almost daily bombings and attacks across the length and breadth of the country.

In recent years the army have taken on the fighters, and the battle has been hard and bloody.

However, they insist the tide is turning.

The army says it has successfully beaten back the Pakistani Taliban and secured Khurram.

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium, Middle East on January 18th, 2010

laden1.jpgYou have probably heard of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, but have you heard of Mohammed Badie and the Muslim Brotherhood?

If not, you should reconsider all of your assumptions about Islam and al-Qaeda's terrorism and whether confronting or reforming Islam is the answer to the al-Qaeda challenge.

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood - which boasts an estimated half a million members and commands the support of about one third of the country's population (there are no accurate public figures) - has over the weekend elected Badie, a 63-year-old scientist, as its leader or "guide".

By Imran Khan in Asia on December 7th, 2009
Photo by Getty Images

Ok, so it's a silly headline, but Osama bin Laden's name has been appearing more frequently in the media of late. There seems to be renewed focus on capturing or killing the man many in the west say is responsible for the deaths of over 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.

But where is he?

A Pakistani Taliban commander claimed that he had met with Bin Laden in Pakistan, but that he had fled the country once the Pakistani army began their anti-Taliban operation in South Waziristan in October.

Senior US officials seem to have no idea where he is.

One newspaper quoted Robert Gates, the US secretary of defence, about when the last time the US had good intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama. He was blunt: "I think it's been years."

On Sunday, the US announced it would seal the Pakistan-Afghan border to try and prevent attacks on the Pakistani side. It’s seen as a plan to try and get the world’s most wanted man.

By Teresa Bo in Americas on October 20th, 2009
Photo by AFP

It is difficult to discuss Argentina without talking about Diego Maradona: The man who gave Argentina its second World Cup in 1986 , the drug addict, the man who used Osama bin Laden's mask in a party right after September 11th, Fidel Castro's friend and  the current coach of Argentina's national team.

Days ago he was, once again, on every headline after attacking the media for criticising him. "Suck it," he said, among other things ... and now FIFA is investigating his outburst. Maradona continues to be loved as a football player but many here in Buenos Aires are embarrassed of his words and of his performance as the coach of something so important for Argentina as its national team.

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