WASHINGTON ? The Pakistani compound where Osama bin Laden was killed served as the command center for the al-Qaeda organization and where the terror leader — even in hiding — continued to assert control of strategy and direct operatives with the goal of hitting the U.S. homeland again, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Saturday.
Department of Defense, via AP
This image from video released Saturday shows Osama bin Laden. Videos show bin Laden watching himself on TV.
Department of Defense, via AP
This image from video released Saturday shows Osama bin Laden. Videos show bin Laden watching himself on TV.
A series of videos seized from the compound show an aging bin Laden rehearsing speeches and watching televised news coverage of his exploits. One of the five brief video clips released Saturday by the government is believed to have been made last fall. It shows bin Laden — his long beard dyed black — dressed in a white tunic and gold robe practicing a "message to the American people" in which he denegrates U.S. policy, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition that he remain anonymous.
Another shows bin Laden lounging on a rug wrapped in a brown blanket watching broadcast news coverage of himself on a small television. Occasionally he changes the channel with a remote control clicker in his right hand. It is unclear whether any of the videos were shot in the Pakistani compound.
The videos are part of what the official described as the "single largest collection of information from a senior terror leader ever."
STORY: Pakistan paints dismal image of bin Laden's end
PHOTO: Reaction to al-Qaeda leader's death
MORE: Full coverage of bin Laden's death
"The collection is large and it is proving invaluable," the official said.
The cache of written documents, computer hard-drives, cellphones, videos and electronic data bases is depicting bin Laden as "the active leader of al-Qaeda," the official said.
"He was far from a figurehead; bin Laden was focused on international terror operations and attacking the United States," he said.
The videos and other material, the official said, suggest that bin Laden remained very active, offering ideas and directing terror operatives in the field. He also remained interested in striking transportation and infrastructure centers in the United States and elsewhere, the official said.
"He was driving strategy and operational planning within al-Qaeda," the official said. He declined to elaborate on possible locations or specific plots. Earlier in the week, the Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory to the U.S. rail system after information recovered in the bin Laden mission disclosed an interest in attacking trains in the U.S.
In a written statement, CIA Director Leon Panetta said the material seized from the compound "only further confirms how important it was to go after bin Laden."
Seeking to dispel any doubts about the death of the terror leader, the intelligence official said a DNA analysis, which drew material from bin Laden's extended family, amounted to a certain identification. The official said the chance of error was "1 in 11.8 quadrillion."
Although bin Laden is believed to have been living in the compound for years, the official also said there was no evidence yet to suggest that the Pakistani government was aware that he was there.
Posted | Updated
0 comments:
Post a Comment