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EDITOR'S NOTE: 39 minutes into tape, first segment of the bin Laden
meeting, begins after footage of the helicopter site visit.
Shaykh: (...inaudible...) You have given us weapons, you have
given us hope and we thank Allah for you. We don't want to take much of your
time, but this is the arrangement of the brothers. People now are supporting
us more, even those ones who did not support us in the past, support us more
now. I did not want to take that much of your time. We praise Allah, we
praise Allah. We came from Kabul. We were very pleased to visit. May Allah
bless you both at home and the camp. We asked the driver to take us, it was a
night with a full moon, thanks be to Allah. Believe me it is not in the
countryside. The elderly ... everybody praises what you did, the great action
you did, which was first and foremost by the grace of Allah. This is the
guidance of Allah and the blessed fruit of jihad.
Osama ben Laden: Thanks to Allah.
What is the stand of the Mosques there (in Saudi Arabia)?
Shaykh: Honestly, they are very positive. Shaykh Al-Bahrani
(phonetic) gave a good sermon in his class after the sunset prayers. It was
videotaped and I was supposed to carry it with me, but unfortunately, I had
to leave immediately.
Osama ben Laden: The day of the
events?
Shaykh: At the exact time of the attack on America, precisely at
the time. He (Bahrani) gave a very impressive sermon. Thanks be to Allah for
his blessings. He (Bahrani) was the first one to write at war time. I visited
him twice in Al-Qasim.
Osama ben Laden: Thanks be to Allah.
Shaykh: This is what I asked from Allah. He (Bahrani) told the
youth: ``You are asking for martyrdom and wonder where you should go (for
martyrdom)?'' Allah was inciting them to go. I asked Allah to grant me to
witness the truth in front of the unjust ruler. We ask Allah to protect him
and give him the martyrdom, after he issued the first fatwa. He was detained
for interrogation, as you know. When he was called in and asked to sign, he
told them, ``don't waste my time, I have another fatwa. If you want me, I can
sign both at the same time.''
Osama ben Laden: Thanks be to Allah.
Shaykh: His position is really very encouraging. When I paid him,
the first visit about a year and half ago, he asked me, ``How is Shaykh
Bin-Ladin?'' He sends you his special regards. As far as Shaykh Sulayman
'Ulwan is concerned, he gave a beautiful fatwa, may Allah bless him.
Miraculously, I heard it on the Quran radio station. It was strange because
he ('Ulwan) sacrificed his position, which is equivalent to a director. It
was transcribed word-by-word. The brothers listened to it in detail. I
briefly heard it before the noon prayers. He ('Ulwan) said this was jihad and
those people were not innocent people (World Trade Center and Pentagon
victims). He swore to Allah. This was transmitted to Shaykh Sulayman Al
(('Umar)) Allah bless him.
Osama ben Laden: What about Shaykh
Al-((Rayan))?
Shaykh: Honestly, I did not meet with him. My movements were
truly limited.
Osama ben Laden: Allah bless you. You
are welcome.
Shaykh: (Describing the trip to the meeting) They smuggled us and
then I thought that we would be in different caves inside the mountains so I
was surprised at the guest house and that it is very clean and comfortable.
Thanks be to Allah, we also learned that this location is safe, by Allah's
blessings. The place is clean and we are very comfortable. Osama ben Laden:
(...Inaudible...) when people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature,
they will like the strong horse. This is only one goal; those who want people
to worship the lord of the people, without following that doctrine, will be
following the doctrine of Muhammad, peace be upon him.
(Osama ben Laden quotes several short and incomplete Hadith
verses, as follows):
``I was ordered to fight the people until they say there is no
god but Allah, and his prophet Muhammad.''
``Some people may ask: why do you want to fight us?''
``There is an association between those who say: I believe in one
god and Muhammad is his prophet, and those who don't (...inaudible...)
``Those who do not follow the true fiqh (law). The fiqh of
Muhammad, the real fiqh. They are just accepting what is being said at face
value.''
Osama ben Laden: Those youth who
conducted the operations did not accept any fiqh in the popular terms, but
they accepted the fiqh that the prophet Muhammad brought. Those young men
(...inaudible...) said in deeds, in New York and Washington, speeches that
overshadowed all other speeches made everywhere else in the world. The
speeches are understood by both Arabs and non-Arabs, even by Chinese. It is
above all the media said. Some of them said that in Holland, at one of the
centers, the number of people who accepted Islam during the days that
followed the operations were more than the people who accepted Islam in the
last eleven years. I heard someone on Islamic radio who owns a school in
America say: ``We don't have time to keep up with the demands of those who
are asking about Islamic books to learn about Islam.'' This event made people
think (about true Islam) which benefited Islam greatly.
Shaykh: Hundreds of people used to doubt you and few only would
follow you until this huge event happened. Now hundreds of people are coming
out to join you. I remember a vision by Shaykh Salih Al-((Shuaybi)). He said:
``There will be a great hit and people will go out by hundreds to
Afghanistan.'' I asked him (Salih): ``To Afghanistan?'' He replied, ``Yes.''
According to him, the only ones who stay behind will be the mentally impotent
and the liars (hypocrites). I remembered his saying that hundreds of people
will go out to Afghanistan. He had this vision a year ago. This event
discriminated between the different types of followers.
Osama ben Laden: (...Inaudible...) We
calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be
killed based on the position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that
would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them
all. (...Inaudible...) Due to my experience in this field, I was thinking
that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the
building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above
it only. This is all that we had hoped for.
Shaykh: Allah be praised.
Osama ben Laden: We were at
(...inaudible...) when the event took place. We had notification since the
previous Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had finished
our work that day and had the radio on. It was 5:30 p.m. our time. I was
sitting with Dr. Ahmad Abu-al-((Khair)). Immediately, we heard the news that
a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We turned the radio station to the
news from Washington. The news continued and (there was) no mention of the
attack until the end. At the end of the newscast, they reported that a plane
just hit the World Trade Center.
Shaykh: Allah be praised.
Osama ben Laden: After a little
while, they announced that another plane had hit the World Trade Center. The
brothers who heard the news were overjoyed by it.
Shaykh: I listened to the news and I was sitting. We didn't ...
we were not thinking about anything, and all of a sudden, Allah willing, we
were talking about how come we didn't have anything, and all of a sudden the
news came and everyone was overjoyed and everyone, until the next day, in the
morning, was talking about what was happening and we stayed until four
o'clock, listening to the news, every time a little bit different, everyone
was very joyous and saying ``Allah is great,'' ``Allah is great,'' ``We are
thankful to Allah,'' ``Praise Allah.'' And I was happy for the happiness of
my brothers. That day the congratulations were coming on the phone non-stop.
The mother was receiving phone calls continuously. Thank Allah. Allah is
great, praise be to Allah.
(Quoting the verse from the Quran)
Shaykh: ``Fight them, Allah will torture them, with your hands,
he will torture them. He will deceive them and he will give you victory.
Allah will forgive the believers, he is knowledgeable about everything.''
Shaykh: No doubt it is a clear victory. Allah has bestowed on us
... honor on us ... and he will give us blessing and more victory during this
holy month of Ramadan. And this is what everyone is hoping for. Thank Allah
America came out of its caves. We hit her the first hit and the next one will
hit her with the hands of the believers, the good believers, the strong
believers. By Allah it is a great work. Allah prepares for you a great reward
for this work. I'm sorry to speak in your presence, but it is just thoughts,
just thoughts. By Allah, who there is no god but him. I live in happiness,
happiness ... I have not experienced, or felt, in a long time. I remember,
the words of Al-Rabbani, he said they made a coalition against us in the
winter with the infidels like the Turks, and others, and some other Arabs.
And they surrounded us like the days ... in the days of the prophet Muhammad.
Exactly like what's happening right now. But he comforted his followers and
said, ``This is going to turn and hit them back.'' And it is a mercy for us.
And a blessing to us. And it will bring people back. Look how wise he was.
And Allah will give him blessing. And the day will come when the symbols of
Islam will rise up and it will be similar to the early days of Al-Mujahedeen
and Al-Ansar (similar to the early years of Islam). And victory to those who
follow Allah. Finally said, if it is the same, like the old days, such as Abu
Bakr and Othman and Ali and others. In these days, in our times, that it will
be the greatest jihad in the history of Islam and the resistance of the
wicked people.
Shaykh: By Allah my Shaykh. We congratulate you for the great
work. Thank Allah.
Tape ends here.
Second segment of Bin Laden's visit, shows up at the front of the
tape
Osama ben Laden: Abdallah Azzam,
Allah bless his soul, told me not to record anything (...inaudible...) so I
thought that was a good omen, and Allah will bless us. (...inaudible...).
Abu-Al-Hasan Al-((Masri)), who appeared on Al-Jazeera TV a couple of days ago
and addressed the Americans, saying: ``If you are true men, come down here
and face us.'' (...inaudible...) He told me a year ago: ``I saw in a dream,
we were playing a soccer game against the Americans. When our team showed up
in the field, they were all pilots!'' He said: ``So I wondered if that was a
soccer game or a pilot game? Our players were pilots.'' He (Abu-Al-Hasan)
didn't know anything about the operation until he heard it on the radio. He
said the game went on and we defeated them. That was a good omen for us.
Shaykh: May Allah be blessed.
Unidentified Man Off Camera: Abd Al Rahman Al-(Ghamri) said he
saw a vision, before the operation, a plane crashed into a tall building. He
knew nothing about it.
Shaykh: May Allah be blessed!
Sulayman ((Abu Guaith)): I was sitting with the Shaykh in a room,
then I left to go to another room where there was a TV set. The TV
broadcasted the big event. The scene was showing an Egyptian family sitting
in their living room, they exploded with joy. Do you know when there is a
soccer game and your team wins? It was the same expression of joy. There was
a subtitle that read: ``In revenge for the children of Al Aqsa', Osama Bin
Ladin executes an operation against America.'' So I went back to the Shaykh
(meaning Osama ben Laden) who was sitting in a room with 50 to 60 people. I
tried to tell him about what I saw, but he made gesture with his hands,
meaning: ``I know, I know.''
Osama ben Laden: He did not know
about the operation. Not everybody knew (...inaudible...). Muhammad ((Atta))
from the Egyptian family (meaning the al Qaida Egyptian group), was in charge
of the group.
Shaykh: A plane crashing into a tall building was out of anyone's
imagination. This was a great job. He was one of the pious men in the
organization. He became a martyr. Allah bless his soul.
Shaykh (Referring to dreams and visions): The plane that he saw
crashing into the building was seen before by more than one person. One of
the good religious people has left everything and come here. He told me, ``I
saw a vision, I was in a huge plane, long and wide. I was carrying it on my
shoulders and I walked from the road to the desert for half a kilometer. I
was dragging the plane.'' I listened to him and I prayed to Allah to help
him. Another person told me that last year he saw, but I didn't understand
and I told him, 'I don't understand.' He said, ``I saw people who left for
jihad ... and they found themselves in New York ... in Washington and New
York.'' I said, ``What is this?'' He told me the plane hit the building. That
was last year. We haven't thought much about it. But, when the incidents
happened he came to me and said, ``Did you see ... this is strange.'' I have
another man ... my god ... he said and swore by Allah that his wife had seen
the incident a week earlier. She saw the plane crashing into a building ...
that was unbelievable, my god.
Osama ben Laden: The brothers, who
conducted the operation, all they knew was that they have a martyrdom operation
and we asked each of them to go to America but they didn't know anything
about the operation, not even one letter. But they were trained and we did
not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they
boarded the planes.
Osama ben Laden: (...inaudible...)
Then he said: Those who were trained to fly didn't know the others. One group
of people did not know the other group. (...inaudible...) (Someone in the
crowd asks Osama ben Laden to tell the Shaykh about the dream of ((Abu-Da'ud)).
Osama ben Laden: We were at a camp of
one of the brother's guards in Kandahar. This brother belonged to the
majority of the group. He came close and told me that he saw, in a dream, a
tall building in America, and in the same dream he saw Mukhtar teaching them
how to play karate. At that point, I was worried that maybe the secret would
be revealed if everyone starts seeing it in their dream. So I closed the
subject. I told him if he sees another dream, not to tell anybody, because
people will be upset with him.
(Another person's voice can be heard recounting his dream about
two planes hitting a big building).
Osama ben Laden: They were overjoyed
when the first plane hit the building, so I said to them: be patient.
Osama ben Laden: The difference between
the first and the second plane hitting the towers was twenty minutes. And the
difference between the first plane and the plane that hit the Pentagon was
one hour.
Shaykh: They (the Americans) were terrified thinking there was a
coup.
Note: Ayman Al-Zawahri says first he commended Osama ben Laden's
awareness of what the media is saying. Then he says it was the first time for
them (Americans) to feel danger coming at them.
Osama ben Laden (reciting a poem):
I witness that against the sharp blade
They always faced difficulties and stood together...
When the darkness comes upon us and we are bit by a
Sharp tooth, I say...
``Our homes are flooded with blood and the tyrant
Is freely wandering in our homes''...
And from the battlefield vanished
The brightness of swords and the horses...
And over weeping sounds now
We hear the beats of drums and rhythm
They are storming his forts
And shouting: ``We will not stop our raids
Until you free our lands''...
Bin Laden visit footage complete. Footage of the visit to the
helicopter site follows the poem.
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