Bin Laden's Son: Worst Is Yet to Come
Omar bin Laden warns that his father's death may unleash more violent enemies.
May 2, 2011 — -- ABC News' Lara Setrakian interviewed Osama bin Laden's son Omar bin Laden in early 2010 to discuss his book "Growing Up Bin Laden." Below are his thoughts on his father's life, what it was like to grow up the son of world's most wanted man, and a dire warning to the world about what might happen in the event that his father was killed:
Osama bin Laden's son had a chilling warning for those who were hunting his father with drones, secret agents and missile strikes.
From Omar bin Laden's up-close look at the next generation of mujahideen and al Qaeda training camps he says the worst may lie ahead, that if his father is killed America may face a broader and more violent enemy, with nothing to keep them in check.
"From what I knew of my father and the people around him I believe he is the most kind among them, because some are much, much worse," Omar bin Laden, who was raised in the midst of his father's fighters, told ABC News in an exclusive interview in February 2010. "Their mentality wants to make more violence, to create more problems."
Omar bin Laden turned his back on his father's philosophy, a remarkable step for a man in an Arab culture where it is a sin to disobey his father and taboo to openly criticize him. It was doubly significant for Omar bin Laden because his father had picked him to succeed him as the leader of jihad.
Omar bin Laden spoke out shortly after hearing his father in an audio tape praise the attempt by the so-called "underwear bomber" to blow up a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009:
"Attacking peaceful people is not being fair, it is unacceptable. If you have a problem with armies or governments you should fight those people. This is what I find unacceptable in my father's way," Omar told ABC News.
"My father should find some letter to send to all of these people, at least to tell them they shouldn't attack the civilians," he said.
When asked whether there is anything his father likes about the United States, Omar says "their weapons," and nothing else.
The son of Osama, however, had praise for the U.S. saying, "They don't care what is your race, what is your skin, where you come from, this is very good."
Despite the $25 million bounty on his father's head and the ever-searching drones, Omar was confident that his father would not be caught and that no Afghan would turn him in:
"It's been 30 years now since he started fighting there. Who could catch him? No one.... This is the country that whoever gets in is stuck, be it the armies or the mujahideen," he said.
Omar told ABC News that as of February 2010, even he did not know where his father was.
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