Hamza bin Laden ‘to give speech about his father’s legacy’

Osama bin Laden’s ‘favourite’ son is allegedly due to hold a speech about his father’s legacy to fellow members of Al-Qaeda. 

Hamza bin Laden, believed to be around 28 years old, has been hailed as the ‘heir’ to the leadership of Al-Qaeda after his father was shot dead by SEAL Team Six in 2011.

Bin Laden Jnr is reportedly speaking about Osama in a speech entitled ‘The Fighter Against Invaders’ at an undisclosed location.

Osama bin Laden’s son and heir to Al Qaeda, Hamza bin Laden (pictured), has been seen for the first time as an adult in newly released footage 

The ‘speech’ was advertised by Al-Qaeda’s so-called ‘media production house’, the as-Sahab Media Foundation, and highlighted on Twitter. 

This comes just days after Hamza bin Laden’s wedding video was released, showing the ‘Crown Prince of Terror’ as an adult for the first time.

This was released by the CIA as part of a trove of material recovered during the May 2011 raid that killed the terror group leader at his compound in Pakistan.

Until now, the public has only seen childhood photos of Hamza, which have been used as propaganda tools by al Qaeda. It’s believed the militants have not released pictures of him as an adult for his own safety.

The hour-long video shows Hamza bin Laden, sporting a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding which is believed to have taken place around ten years ago while he was living in Iran under house arrest for several years. 

The video, which shows Hamza bin Laden (center, surrounded by guests at his wedding), has been released by the CIA as part of a trove of material recovered during the May 2011 raid that killed the terror group leader at his compound in Pakistan

It is unclear who the bride is, as Al Qaeda militants – including his own father – take multiple wives, but his marriage to the daughter of senior al Qaeda military leader, Abu Mohammed al-Masri is well documented.

Footage of his wedding shows Hamza sitting on a carpet with other men, while a man chanting Koranic verses can be heard in the background. 

Sporting a traditional white headdress, he verbally accepts his marriage to his bride ‘on the book of God and the example of the prophet. Peace be upon him.’

‘Takbeer!’ the others shout, marking his marriage with a kind of religious hooray. There did not appear to be any obvious security around the event and Hamza and his guests appear to be laughing and singing.

It is unclear how Osama bin Laden came to possess his son’s wedding tape, shot in Iran, at his secret Abbottabad compound.

Footage of the wedding shows Hamza and his guests laughing and singing at the light-hearted event

An hour-long video shows Hamza bin Laden, sporting a trimmed mustache but no beard, at his wedding. He is sitting on a carpet with other men

The last time Osama bin Laden’s (left) son Hamza was seen before now, is in this 2001 video of him reciting a poem (right) which was inset over an al Qaeda training video

At least one of the men sitting alongside Hamza at the ceremony was a senior al Qaeda leader, the Long War Journal reports.

Mohammed Islambouli, pictured in a red headdress sitting next Hamza for much of the ceremony, is the Egyptian brother of Anwar Sadat’s assassin. Islambouli officially joined al Qaeda in August 2006 and appears to have had a hand in their operations. 

As recently as 2014, he was reportedly directing al Qaeda’s Syrian-based Khorasan Group – a group on the terror watch list which are now often just referred to as simply al-Qaeda.

Islambouli was also located in Iran for many years, where Hamza and many other members of the bin Laden family, relocated after 9/11.

While there, Hamza continued to keep in touch with his father according to a letter that was previously released by the CIA.

The note, dated from July 2009, began: ‘My beloved father, I was separated from you when I was a small child, not yet 13, but I am older now, and have attained manhood.

In recent years, Al Qaeda has released audio messages from Hamza bin Laden,(pictured) who was thought to be groomed by his father to succeed him as head of the jihadist terror network

It’s believed the militants have not released pictures of him as an adult for his own safety. Now the CIA have released footage which shows Hamza (right) enjoying his wedding ‘feast’ with guests, as they listened to the radio

It is unclear who the bride is, as Al Qaeda militants – including his own father – take multiple wives, but his marriage to the daughter of senior al Qaeda military leader, Abu Mohammed al-Masri is well documented

Sporting a traditional white headdress, Hamza (left) verbally accepted his marriage to his bride ‘on the book of God and the example of the prophet. Peace be upon him’

‘You might not recognize me when you meet me, as my features have changed. Praise God, I live a stable life, and God has blessed me with a pious wife, and she has blessed me with a son who I gave your name, Osama, and a daughter who I named after the mother, Khayriyah.’

‘I ask God to place their image in your eye,’ Hamza continued in the missive to his dad. ‘He created them to serve you. Osama says hello to you.’

A few years later, in 2015, Hamza named his mentors who were all high ranking al Qaeda figures detained alongside him in Iran.

While the bin Ladens were initially welcomed after they fled to Iran following 9/11 in 2011, their stay soon became a problem for the Iranians and they were detained under house arrest.

In September 2010, Osama bin Laden wrote a letter to three of his sons, including Hamza, as well as one of his wives and grandchildren warning them that ‘Iranians are not to be trusted’ and that they should leave their belongings behind, seemingly in case a tracking device had been left among them.

Records show that members of al Qaeda even kidnapped an Iranian diplomat to force them to handover Osama’s family members. 

Until now, the public has only seen childhood photos of Hamza, which have been used as propaganda tools by al Qaeda (pictured)

Hamza bin Laden (center) poses with Taliban fighters near Ghazni, Afghanistan in November 2001

Hamza was eventually released from Iranian custody in 2010 and was advised by his father to travel to Qatar where he could law low and study.

Letters from the time, which have also been released, showed that his most senior advisor, Atiyah Abd al Rahman, was frustrated at having to care for Hamza’s safety.

Hamza later made his way into Pakistan where he was trained by al Qaeda members in fighting, explosives and leadership.

In recent years, he has emerged as the heir to his father’s throne and become a prominent member of the terrorist organization.

Dubbed the ‘Crown Prince of Terror’, he has purportedly called for terrorist attacks on London, Washington and Paris in an audio message released by Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda has released several audio messages from Hamza, and to mark a recent anniversary of 9/11, Al Qaeda superimposed a childhood photo of him over a photo of the World Trade Center. 

In January of this year, Hamza was officially designated a terrorist by the United States.

The U.S. State Department added the 20-something, to its list of global terrorists after confirming he had followed in his father’s footsteps to join al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda senior leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released a tape in August 2015, claiming that Hamza had joined the group. In the audio message, Hamza himself spoke and called for lone wolf attacks in Washington, DC, Paris and Tel Aviv.

Osama bin Laden (pictured) wrote to his son while he was living in Iran, warning him to be careful and not to trust the Iranians 

Hamza’s wedding video was among 470,000 files seized from his Abbottabad compound (pictured is an artist’s rendering) after Seal Team Six stormed it and killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011

He issued another audio message in July 2016, calling for ‘revenge against the United States’. The message specifically called on ‘Saudi Arabian-based tribes to unite with al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to wage war against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ – an ally of the U.S.

Being added to the U.S.’s counter-terrorism blacklist involves economic sanctions that prevents people on the list from doing business with American citizens and holding funds in U.S.-based bank accounts.

The Al Qaeda leadership believes there is huge propaganda value in invoking the bin Laden name because it allows them to stake their claim to be the legitimate representative of jihad in the Middle East.

In recent years Al Qaeda and its Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al Nusra, have lost territory and fighters to the more dominant Islamic State during a long-running mutually destructive conflict. Al Qaeda has also lost key leaders as a result of IS assassinations and Coalition bombings.

As the natural heir to Osama bin Laden, Hamza’s name and more youthful profile will boost Al Qaeda’s recruitment of jihadi fighters from all over the world.

Hamza’s emergence as an influential voice among Al Qaeda’s leadership is particularly embarrassing for the US.

Following the 2011 U.S. raid on the compound in Abottabad, Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was living, it was reported that Hamza had been killed alongside his father. White House officials announced his death, before further analysis showed that it was another son, Khaled, who had been killed.

Astonishing videos of Osama bin Laden’s family life in hiding have been revealed by the CIA; In one scene, an old man with a white beard, headdress, and a robe resembling bin Laden is seen instructing two young boys on how to shoot what appears to be a toy gun

It unclear where Hamza was at the time of the raid. But letters found in the Abbottabad hideaway suggest that even in the months before his death Osama bin Laden was grooming Hamza as his successor.

In the letter to his chief of staff, Osama bin Laden wrote his wish that Hamza be educated in Qatar as a religious scholar so that he could ‘refute the wrong and the suspicions raised around Jihad’.

He repeatedly discussed ways to prevent Hamza from falling into the hands of Al Qaeda’s enemies. And the al Qaeda leader said he wanted his son to avoid Waziristan where the Americans were using drones to target the network.

Hamza is bin Laden’s son through the terrorist’s third wife Khairiah Sabar. Khairiah Sabar would have been the most senior wife of the three living with bin Laden at the Abbottabad compound, since bin Laden was divorced from his two previous wives. Bin Laden also married a sixth wife, but that marriage was believed to have been annulled soon after the nuptials.

It’s estimated that bin Laden fathered 20 to 25 children with his many wives.

Max Abrahms, a terrorism academic and expert on al Qaeda based in the US, previously told MailOnline that Hamza could play a key role in displacing Islamic State in the region.

He said: ‘Al Qaeda and IS are competing with each other to attract the same kind of jihadis.

Toddlers and infants are seen playing on swings in the courtyard while they are filmed

The CIA released a video showing young children being doted on and frolicking at home

A young boy who appears no older than seven years of age is seen reciting sentences in Arabic

‘One of the reasons IS has succeeded in recruiting more fighters to its cause is because it has a strong leadership under Baghdadi.

‘This has been made easier since the death of bin Laden who was, contrary to what some suggest, influential with the group right up until his death. (Ayman) al-Zawahiri does not have the same personality.

‘I think you might argue that by bringing out bin Laden’s son Al Qaeda is both trying to evoke the family name of bin Laden which still carries so much importance (for jihadis) while at the same time directly challenging the Baghdadi leadership.’

Hamza’s wedding video was among 470,000 files seized from his Abbottabad compound after Seal Team Six stormed it and killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

They were finally released six-and-a-half years after the dramatic raid which ended the mystery of where he was.

The videos show an apparently normal and happy family and betray little of the fear they were supposed to be living in.

Inevitably they will raise more questions over whether bin Laden had official help from some quarters of the Pakistani government to stay hidden from the CIA for almost a decade.

The hard drive contained a collection of home movies, and Western TV shows that included kids’ cartoons, several Hollywood movies and three documentaries about himself.

The list of the videos was included in the release on Wednesday by the CIA of nearly 470,000 files found on the computer seized in the May 2, 2011, US raid on the Al Qaeda founder’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

It is the fourth tranche of materials taken from the walled compound where bin Laden and his family lived to be made public by the US government since May 2015. 

This young boy is seen in the playground of the compound in Abbottabad while looking straight into the camera

Materials that still have not been released are being withheld because they could harm national security, are blank, corrupted or duplicate files, are pornographic or are protected by copyright, said a CIA statement.

The astonishing videos show Osama, his children and grandchildren playing in the open despite him being the world’s most wanted man.

One raw video shot inside the compound shows a sizable barn with animals including cows, chickens, and cats.

The video starts with a shot of a baby calf being nursed by a mother cow.

It then shows a scene of tranquility where hens and roosters wander about in the barnyard while a female cat cares for her litter of kittens in a tiny space behind two trash bins.

There is even a cage full of rabbits and another pen reserved for chickens who are eating – not the setting one would expect would be home to a notorious arch-terrorist.

The CIA also released a video showing young children frolicking about at home.

Toddlers and infants are seen playing on swings in the courtyard while they are filmed.

A young boy who appears no older than seven years of age is seen reciting sentences in Arabic.

One segment shows snowfall accumulating at the compound, while another shot shows a rainbow emerging from the horizon outside the facility’s walls

Most of the children are wearing traditional Pakistani garb while some are in regular T-shirts as they play indoors. 

In one scene, an old man with a white beard, headdress, and a robe is seen instructing two young boys on how to shoot what appears to be a toy gun.

In the next scene, children are filmed as they play on a slide.

The video also shows footage of a baby girl who appears no older than five months of age.

The footage indicates that although bin Laden declared war on the West, the inhabitants of the compound still used cell phones.

A computer hard drive was seen in one of the rooms, and Western pop music can be heard playing in the background as a young boy fiddles with a mobile device.

Bin Laden (seen above in 2001) was eventually killed by SEAL Team Six in 2011 after 10 years in hiding

Another clip released by the CIA shows footage of the surrounding areas of the compound during the different seasons.

One segment shows snowfall accumulating at the compound, while another shot shows a rainbow emerging from the horizon outside the facility’s walls. 

The copyright-protected materials include more than two dozen videos such as Antz, Cars and other animated films, the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII and Where in the World is Osama bin Laden and two other documentaries about the Al Qaeda leader, the CIA said.

‘Today’s release of recovered Al Qaeda letters, videos, audio files and other materials provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organization,’ said CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

‘CIA will continue to seek opportunities to share information with the American people consistent with our obligation to protect national security.’

The materials released on Wednesday are posted on line – here – in their original Arabic.

They include bin Laden’s personal journal and 18,000 document files, about 79,000 audio and image files and more than 10,000 video files, the CIA said.

The CIA said that the materials, like those released in the past, provide insights into the origins of the differences between Al Qaeda and Islamic State, disagreements within Al Qaeda and its allies, and the problems Al Qaeda faced at the time of bin Laden’s death. 

BIN LADEN’S COLLECTION INCLUDED DISNEY’S ‘CARS’ AND ‘WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN’

Among the videos found at the compound was the Morgan Spurlock documentary, ‘Where in the World is Osama bin Laden’ 

The trove of files released by the CIA consists of objects like bin Laden’s journal as well as a number of American movies the terrorist had on hand, including the 2008 Morgan Spurlock documentary, ‘Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?’ and the Disney film, ‘Cars.’

Because of copyright issues, the CIA couldn’t release some of the content found in the compound – so instead released a list that included the many American films the terrorist kept on hand.

Besides, the Spurlock documentary, bin Laden also had the Biography channel’s film about himself along with ‘CNN Presents: World’s Most Wanted.’

The latter film debuted in 2006 and featured the world’s top three most-wanted terrorists: bin Laden, his No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, and al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqaw, who was killed the same year.

Another CNN film from 2006, ‘In the Footsteps of bin Laden,’ was also among the terrorist’s trove.

Bin Laden also had a number of kids’ films including Antz, Batman Gotham Knight, Cars, Chicken Little, Marvel’s Heroes of Tomorrow, Home on the Range, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and The Three Musketeers.

He had the video games Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil. And a copy of the Chinese animated film, Storm Rider Clash of the Evils.

The terrorist, who couldn’t leave the confines of his compound without putting his life in danger, had a number of films about other places, including Peru Civilization, The Kremlin from Inside and The Story of India.

Bin Laden had a collection of National Geographic films too, along with a copy of the BBC’s Great Wildlife Moments.

The CIA said it also did not release any pornography found.