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The secretive life of Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, who waged jihad from age 12 and whose capture is worth $1 million to the US government
The secretive life of Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden, who waged jihad from age 12 and whose capture is worth $1 million to the US government
Bill Bostock,Bill BostockMar 1, 2019, 20:00 IST
The reward posted from the US state department published on Friday.US State Department
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The US State Department has posted a reward of up to $1 million for information about Hamza bin Laden, the son of 9/11 mastermind Osama.
The department said bin Laden is a top figure within al Qaeda, and listed him a top priority Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2017.
Here's the story of Osama's son; implicated in the assassination of a Pakistani prime minister, vowing to avenge his father's death, and marrying the daughter of a 9/11 hijacker.
The US State Department has posted a reward of up to $1 million for an "identification or location" which helps them capture Osama bin Laden's son, senior al Qaeda operative Hamza bin Laden.
bin Laden was being groomed to take over from Osama, until his father's death at the hands of the US Navy's SEAL Team Six in 2011.
This is what we know about of the son of the world's most famous terrorist: where he started out, how he's emerging as a leader in al Qaeda, and why the US is so keen to get its hands on him.
He was involved in al Qaeda operations from an early age — this video shows him aged 12.
In 2005 he was identified in a separate video called "The Mujahideen of Waziristan" which showed an al-Qaeda assault on Pakistani security forces in North Waziristan. He would have been 16 at the time.
bin Laden made international headlines in December 2007, as an 18 year-old, when al Qaeda claimed responsibility for assassinating Pakistan's first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
Bhutto had told media previously she suspected Hamza bin Laden and al Qaeda could be the ones to try to kill her. It is not known whether he was directly involved in the hit.
But on May 2, 2011, bin Laden's father Osama was shot dead by members of SEAL Team 6 during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
It is was rumoured that Hamza bin Laden, 22 at the time, had escaped from the compound that day. But Osama's journals obtained by the CIA suggest he wasn't there at the time.
On July 9, 2016, al Qaeda issued another audio message from bin Laden, in which he vowed revenge on the US and warned Americans they would be targeted in the US and abroad.
As Hamza bin Laden's profile increased, US authorities began to take more notice. On January 5, 2017, bin Laden was made a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the US State Department.
The designation is reserved for those who have committed, or could commit, serious acts of terrorism.
In November 2017, the CIA released footage from inside the Pakistan compound, showing bin Laden 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.
In August 2018 it emerged bin Laden had married the daughter of key 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta.
bin Laden's family gave an interview to the Guardian about Hamza bin Laden. Hassan bin Laden, his uncle, said he thought Hamza had put terror behind him — but admitted he was wrong.
"We thought everyone was over this," he said.
"Then the next thing I knew, Hamza was saying, 'I am going to avenge my father.'"
"I don't want to go through that again. 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 horrible parts of your soul'."
bin Laden is currently thought to be based near the Afghan-Pakistani border as of February 2019, reportedly acting as deputy to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al Qaeda leader.
"We do believe he's probably in the Afghan-Pakistan border [sic] and... he'll cross into Iran. But he could be anywhere though in... south central Asia," the BBC quoted assistant US secretary for diplomatic security Michael Evanoff as saying.
