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U. S. government released Thursday a copy of a videotape of Osama
bin Laden that leaves no doubt about his leadership role in the
Sept. 11 attacks. On the tape, bin Laden says that the suicide bombers
"were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until
they [were] there and just before they boarded the plane."
Following is the full transcript and annotations, independently
prepared by George Michael, translator, Diplomatic Language Services,
and Dr. Kassem M. Wahba, Arabic language program coordinator, School
of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
In mid-November,
Usama Bin Laden spoke to a room of supporters, possibly in Qandahar,
Afghanistan. These comments were video taped with the knowledge
of Bin Laden and all present.
Note: The
tape is approximately one hour long and contains three different
segments: an original taping of a visit by some people to the site
of the downed U.S. helicopter in Ghazni province (approximately
12 minutes long); and two segments documenting a courtesy visit
by Bin Laden and his lieutenants to an unidentified Shaykh, who
appears crippled from the waist down. The visit apparently takes
place at a guesthouse in Qandahar. The sequence of the events is
reversed on the tape-the end of his visit is in the beginning of
the tape with the helicopter site visit in the middle and the start
of the Usama bin Laden visit beginning approximately 39 minutes
into the tape. The tape is transcribed below according to the proper
sequence of events. Due to the quality of the original tape, it
is NOT a verbatim transcript of every word spoken during the meeting,
but does convey the messages and information flow.
EDITOR'S
NOTE:
39 minutes into tape, first segment of the bin Laden meeting, begins
after footage of 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 country
side. 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.
UBL:
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.
UBL:
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.
UBL:
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."
UBL:
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.
UBL:
What about Shaykh Al-((Rayan))?
Shaykh:
Honestly, I did not meet with him. My movements were truly limited.
UBL:
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.
UBL:
(...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.
(UBL 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. The fiqh of Muhammad, the real
fiqh. They are just accepting what is being said at face value."
UBL:
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.
UBL: (...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.
UBL: 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 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.
UBL:
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.
UBL:
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', Usama Bin Ladin executes an operation against America."
So I went back to the Shaykh (meaning UBL) 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…"
UBL:
He did not know about the operation. Not everybody knew (...inaudible...).
Muhammad ((Atta)) from the Egyptian family (meaning the Al Qa'ida
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.
UBL:
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.
UBL: (...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 UBL to tell the Shaykh about the dream of ((Abu-Da'ud)).
UBL:
We were at a camp of one of the brother's guards in Qandahar. 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).
UBL:
They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building, so I
said to them: be patient.
UBL: 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 UBL'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.]
UBL (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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