Osama bin Laden's son has reportedly married the daughter of the lead 9/11 hijacker
- Osama bin Laden's son Hamza has married the daughter of lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, according to family members who spoke to The Guardian.
- Letters found at Bin Laden's Pakistan compound after he was killed in a 2011 raid show that he had been grooming Hamza to be his successor.
- Recent reports suggest Hamza is now working as the deputy to Al Qaeda's current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The late Al Qaeda leader's half-brothers, Ahmad and Hassan al-Attas, told The Guardian that they had "heard" news of the marriage.
"We have heard he has married the daughter of Mohammed Atta," Ahmad al-Attas told the newspaper. "We're not sure where he is but it could be Afghanistan."
Hamza bin Laden, who is believed to be 28 or 29 years old, has been an active member of Al Qaeda since at least 2015, when the group began using him in propaganda videos. Last year, he was officially designated a global terrorist by the US.
Recent reports say he is currently working as the deputy to Al Qaeda's current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and has vowed to avenge the death of his father.
"When we thought everyone was over this, next thing I knew was Hamza saying I am going to avenge my father," his uncle Hassan al-Attas said. "I don't want to go through that again."
He added: "If Hamza was in front of me now, I would tell him: God guide you. Think twice about what you are doing. Don't retake the steps of your father. You are entering really negative horrible parts of your soul."
In November, the CIA also released footage it obtained from the Pakistan compound, showing Hamza getting married when he was 17 or 18 years old. The bride is not identified in the video, and it's believed that Hamza has married multiple times, including to the daughter of senior Al Qaeda leader Abu Mohammed al-Masri.
Atta was one of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks, setting off the day of bloodshed by flying American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
It comes as a surprise that the Egyptian national even had a daughter since he was not believed to have married - and by some accounts was an avowed virgin. The will he left behind, which was drafted five years before his death, makes no mention of any dependents.
However, not much is known about Atta's movements in 2000, when he spent many months in Afghanistan helping to plan the attacks.
