Thursday, January 17, 2008

Omar bin Laden

This is one of those stories that wont make the evening news, but that I found interesting. Osama's son Omar wants to be a peace activist:

CAIRO, Egypt — Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father _ except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket.

The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West.

Omar _ one of bin Laden's 19 children _ raised a tabloid storm last year when he married a 52-year-old British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, who took the name Zaina Alsabah. Now the couple say they want to be advocates, planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace.

"It's about changing the ideas of the Western mind. A lot of people think Arabs _ especially the bin Ladens, especially the sons of Osama _ are all terrorists. This is not the truth," Omar told the AP last week at a cafe in a Cairo shopping mall.

Of course, many may have a hard time getting their mind around the idea of "bin Laden: peacenik."

"Omar thinks he can be a negotiator," said Alsabah, who is trying to bring her husband to Britain. "He's one of the only people who can do this in the world."

http://www.alternet.org/wire/#74154


Not sure that it will have any impact, but I think it's certainly worth talking to him. If nothing else, he has an interesting perspective.

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