Bin Laden's Will Says His Children Must Not Join Al-Qaida
THE GUARDIAN: Newspaper prints will that says wives should not remarry and states his regret at neglect of children due to 'devotion to jihad'

Osama Bin Laden's last wish, according to a document purported to be his will, was that his wives not remarry after his death and his children not join al-Qaida.

Al-Anbaa, a Kuwaiti newspaper, reported on Tuesday that the will, marked "private and confidential" was dated 14 December 2001, three months after the 9/11 attacks, when US forces were hunting him in Afghanistan.

The four-page document, written on a computer and signed by "your brother Abu Abdullah Osama Muhammad Bin Laden," predicts that he would die by the "treachery" of those around him. Al-Anbaa does not reveal how or when it obtained the will or whether it was able to authenticate it. Al-Majallah [عربي], a Saudi-owned Arabic magazine, published a similar document in 2002 but it was dismissed as a fraud by a pro-jihadi website. » | Ian Black, Middle East editor | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Osama bin Laden Killing Prompts US-Pakistan War of Words
THE GUARDIAN: Pakistan says raid on Bin Laden's house was 'unauthorised' while CIA director defends decision not to inform Islamabad

The war of words between Pakistan and the US in the wake of Osama bin Laden's killing has intensified, with senior officials on both sides trading barbs that underline their mutual mistrust, and the White House reversing its position on key details of the raid.

In Islamabad the Pakistani foreign ministry issued a hard-worded statement condemning the raid on Bin Laden's house as an "unauthorised unilateral action", and warned that this would not be tolerated in future.

In Washington, the CIA chief, Leon Panetta, said Pakistan was not informed of the assault on Abbottabad, a military garrison town, because US officials feared the al-Qaida leader could have been warned.

"It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardise the mission. They might alert the targets," he told Time.

Pakistan's foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, described the American attitude as "disquieting", asserting that Pakistan had played a key role in the fight against Islamist militancy.

"Most of these things that have happened in terms of global anti-terror, Pakistan has played a pivotal role," he said. "So it's a little disquieting when we have comments like this." » | Declan Walsh in Abbottabad | Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Michelle Boogies to Beyoncé
It's not every day the First Lady of the United States is seen dancing to Beyoncé, but Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the Alice Deal Middle School in Washington yesterday as part of her Let’s Move! campaign to curb childhood obesity
Watch The Daily Telegraph video, Michelle Obama dances to Beyoncé here | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

People Flock to Bin Laden's Abbottabad Compound
The house where Osama bin Laden was killed is fast becoming a tourist destination.

Hundreds of people have gone to the compound where the Al Qaeda leader is thought to have lived for the past 5 years.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports from Abbottabad in Pakistan.

Indonesia Braces for Reprisal Attacks
Questions remain about how Osama bin Laden was killed, but the impact of his death on Al Qaeda inspired groups is already being evaluated.

Indonesia's government has been fighting its own battle against such groups for years.

And as Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Jakarta, it is unlikely much will change.

White House Confirms Al Qaeda Chief Not Armed
The revelation that bin Laden was not armed when he was shot dead has prompted questions about whether the US actually set out to kill him.

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane reports from Washington.

Pakistan Faces Pressure to Explain Bin Laden's Presence

Pakistan and Osama bin Laden: How the West Was Conned
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The ISI and its covert support of Islamist terrorism must be confronted

In December 1979, at the end of a meeting in which Pakistan decided to embark on a United States-backed, Saudi Arabia-funded secret war that could well have ended in its annihilation by the Soviet Union, the military dictator who ruled Pakistan offered his spymaster a Zen-like maxim. "The water in Afghanistan," Gen Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq told Lt Gen Akhtar Abdul Rehman Khan, the director general of the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), "must boil at the right temperature."

Ever since 9/11, the ISI has been seeking to keep the jihad inside Afghanistan and Pakistan warm, nurturing allies it gave birth to in the years after that meeting, while also joining the West's war against terror – the source of billions of dollars in aid and military patronage.

But Osama bin Laden's killing may mark the point where the water boiled over – destroying Pakistan's relationship with the West, and setting off a chain of events no one can predict.

Irrespective of whether bin Laden was being sheltered by the ISI or merely succeeded in evading its ineffectual counter-terrorism efforts, the challenge for Western policymakers is stark: it has become clear the ISI isn't willing or able to act against jihadists operating from its soil. Even though it is unwise to underestimate the incompetence of south Asia's under-funded, ill-trained police and intelligence services, it is hard to imagine that Pakistan's spies did not investigate just who was building a $1 million fortified complex a few hundred yards from the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul – a potential target for Pakistani jihadists who have claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers. Bin Laden's neighbours have said the house was protected by closed-circuit cameras; that neighbours were never allowed in; that the rubbish was disposed of by burning – all of which ought to have attracted the attention of even the most indolent spies. Continue reading and comment » | Praveen Swami | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

My comment:

Western politicians refuse to accept the true nature of Islam. No self-respecting Muslim is going to show loyalty to an infidel over a believer. It's just not going to happen. When are the powers-that-be going to learn the lesson?

And Cameron's recent gift of £650million to Pakistan for educational aid was about as dumb as it gets. Who on earth did he think was going to benefit from that? Certainly not children in regular schools. Children in madrasahs, maybe; corrupt politicians, certainly.

And what about all the other gazillions Pakistan has been given in aid? Let's face it: They're taking us for fools! – Mark

This comment also appears here

Osama bin Laden Dead: The Mysterious Khan Family Who Were 'Good Neighbours'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Exclusive: Nobody could fault them. The Khans were good neighbours, always polite, and more than a cut above the rest, reports Peter Oborne.

They spoke perfect Pashtu - the language of Pakistan’s unruly tribal areas - in a cultivated, urban accent. They were careful to pay their bills on time and popular with local shop keepers.

Women and children came and went, travelling mostly in a red Suzuki van. The family were well off, telling locals that they had made their money trading gold.

Certainly, they were reclusive. The imposing house in Abbottabad had high walls and was fortified by barbed wire. They never handed out their phone numbers. There were no telephones in the house, and no internet.

When school children playing cricket knocked balls into their compound they were never allowed in to find them instead the Khan’s would pay them 100 rupees - approximately 70p - as compensation.

But nobody made anything of it. Neighbours simply assumed that the head of the household - who called himself Arshad Khan, like many other Pakistan businessmen, have made some powerful enemies in his road to riches.

Now they know that the secret the “Khans” were hiding was Osama bin Laden and that “Mr Khan” was in all likelihood one of his most trusted couriers, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.

Local residents yesterday spoke of an apparently friendly family whose determination to protect their privacy was now suddenly understandable. Continue reading and comment » | Peter Oborne | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

My comment:

The imposing house in Abbottabad had high walls...

I have heard OBL's house described as "an imposing house" and "a mansion." I don't get it! It looks like no mansion I've ever seen before! In fact, it looks ugly, unimposing, unimpressive, and ramshackle. Views taken of the inside resemble what I would imagine a slum to be like. It certainly wasn't grand, and nor was it comfortable. In fact, it looks like 'the house that Jack built'! I'm sure he could have afforded much better.

As for the neighbours not recognising him – that's hard to swallow. OBL had very distinctive features. One couldn't mistake him a mile off.

The whole story sounds very fishy to me. – Mark

This comment also appears here

British Muslims Are Breathing a Sigh of Relief
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Osama Bin Laden's death could signal the end of an extreme and harmful distortion of Islam

It took the world's sole hyperpower almost a decade to corner its nemesis, and hold Osama bin Laden to account. The death of al-Qaeda's charismatic founder will not signal an immediate end to his notorious creation, which has transmuted itself into locally operated franchises in strategic parts of the Islamic world. Nor will there be any perceptible diminution of violence and bloodshed in the short term: indeed, the manner of his death, and the fact that he was buried at sea, even though he died on land, will only inflame al-Qaeda's sympathisers, and serve to cement bin Laden's iconic status in the eyes of his supporters.

Yet bin Laden's departure will have far-reaching consequences, both in Muslim countries and for Muslims within the West. Most importantly, it will stall al-Qaeda's recruitment drive. Ever since its creation, the organisation was shrouded in a deliberately cultivated aura of divine invincibility, as it combated and often thwarted the soldiers and intelligence services of the United States. Now that their leader is no more, his forlorn followers will assert that he is a martyr – but they can no longer claim that he enjoys God's protection. » | Taj Hargey | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Bin Laden’s death changes NOTHING about the NATURE of ISLAM. – © Mark

Bin Laden Death a 'Strike at the Heart' of Terrorism, Says Cameron
THE INDEPENDENT: The death of Osama bin Laden was a "strike at the heart" of international terrorism, David Cameron told MPs.

He hoped the news would bring a "sense of justice being served" to families of the victims of the atrocities carried out by al-Qa'ida.

But in a Commons statement the Prime Minister warned: "While bin Laden is gone, the threat of al-Qa'ida remains."

Al-Qa'ida and affiliates in Yemen and the Maghreb could launch an operation to demonstrate their continued ability to operate.

Or a "lone wolf" radical could launch a solo attack, he warned.

"We must be more vigilant than ever, and we must maintain that vigilance for some time to come." » | David Hughes and Emily Ashton, PA | Tuesday, April 03, 2011

Vereinigte Staaten: Der Unmut über Pakistan wächst
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Nach der Tötung Usama Bin Ladins wächst in Amerika der Unmut darüber, dass der Al-Qaida-Führer offenkundig jahrelang unbehelligt in Pakistan leben konnte. Das Weiße Haus teilte derweil mit, dass Bin Ladin nicht bewaffnet war, als er getötet wurde.

Usama Bin Ladin war nach Angaben des Weißen Hauses nicht bewaffnet, als er von einer amerikanischen Spezialeinheit getötet wurde. Er habe sich aber auf andere Weise gewehrt, sagte Sprecher Jay Carney am Dienstag in Washington, ohne Einzelheiten zu nennen. Das Weiße Haus hat noch nicht entschieden, ob Fotos von der Leiche des Terroristenchefs Osama bin Laden veröffentlicht werden sollen. Sprecher Jay Carney sagte am Dienstag, die Bilder seien zweifellos „grausig“. Vor diesem Hintergrund werde geprüft, ob es nötig sei, sie zu veröffentlichen. Bin Laden soll zwei Mal in den Kopf getroffen worden sein, einmal direkt über dem linken Auge. » | F.A.Z. | Dienstag, 03. Mai 2011

Tories Won’t Make Radical Change with Majority, Harper Vows
THE GLOBE & MAIL: Stephen Harper said he’s taking a no-surprises approach to majority government rather than contemplating any radical shifts in policy now that he has control of the Commons.

The Conservatives won a solid majority on May 2, winning 167 ridings, which gives Mr. Harper a healthy margin over the required 155 seats needed for a majority.

The Prime Minister said he believes Canadians expect the Tories to hew to the platform they campaigned on – and to continue governing the way they did during a half decade of minority government.

“We got that mandate because of the way we have governed, because of our record,” he said during a press conference in Calgary.

“Canadians expect us to continue to move forward in the same way, to be true to the platform we’ve run on and be true to the kind of values and policies we’ve laid out before them,” the Prime Minister said.

Opposition parties including the Liberals had warned Mr. Harper would tack to the right upon election and his rivals had tried to spook voters with the warning he’s slash health care.

The re-elected Prime Minister, however, said he’s not going to spring things on Canadians – shying away from the idea of allowing a bigger tier of private health care to develop in Canada.

“One thing I’ve learned in this business is that surprises are generally not well received by the public and so we intend to move forward with what Canadians understand about us and I think what they’re more and more comfortable with.” » | Steven Chase | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Verbunden »

“New Saudi Law Tells Media, ‘Shut Up’”
CROSSROADS ARABIA: “With a series of new Royal Decrees, Saudi Arabia has taken an amazing step backward from free speech. Directly and indirectly, the newly-amended Press & Publications Law now criminalizes, well, just about anything. Sedition? Check. Lèse majesté? Check. ‘Anything affecting the reputation or dignity’ of anyone? Check. ‘Propagating division between citizens? Check.

That doesn’t leave much to talk about, does it? Maybe the weather is uncontroversial. But if the weather causes floods and people die as a result, this law would prevent talking about who is responsible for the lack of preparation: that would clearly be ‘divisive’. How about sports? No… criticizing a goalie’s poor performance will surely annoy him, his friends, family, and supporters.

Saudi Gazette has the more complete coverage of the announcement made through the Saudi Press Agency. It notes that the law pertains not just to Saudi newspapers, but also to online media, including those of Saudis writing outside the Kingdom.

This is truly both breathtaking in its scope and its stupidity. One does not protect the dignity of people by calling in the cudgel of law, with its power to confiscate newspapers, close their offices, find [sic] them heavily, and banning future writings. All that does is push criticism underground while falsely creating a sense that everything is quiet. As I said in an earlier piece, Arab governments have already lost the battle to control media, both professional and personal. They cannot put the genie of the Internet back in the bottle, nor close it down.” » | Saturday, April 30, 2011

Daniel Barenboim Brings 'Solace and Pleasure' to Gaza with Mozart Concert
THE GUARDIAN: Israeli conductor voices support for non-violence and Palestinian state during performance for schoolchildren and NGO workers

The orchestra arrived with the impact of a presidential motorcade, in armoured cars, with sirens wailing and flanked by dozens of armed men.

It was an unusual overture to a rendition of Mozart. But then, the arrival in Gaza of Daniel Barenboim, the world-famous Israeli conductor and his Orchestra for Gaza – featuring musicians from Paris, Milan, Berlin and Vienna - to play for an audience of schoolchildren and NGO workers was itself far from usual.

The orchestra set off from Berlin on Monday, stopped at Vienna and then landed at El Arish, close to the Egyptian side of the Gaza Strip, on a plane chartered by Barenboim himself.

As an Israeli citizen it is illegal for Barenboim to enter Gaza without a permit, and, as if that wasn't enough, the recent murder of an Italian peace activist and fears that pro-Osama bin Laden groups in Gaza might seek revenge on western targets meant that the UN security team was on high alert.

Barenboim has previously played in Ramallah and holds an honorary Palestinian passport, and is widely praised for his attempts to reach out across the divide. In Israel, meanwhile, he has been attacked for promoting the work of Wagner.

He told his audience on Tuesday that the people of Gaza "have been blockaded for many years and this blockade has affected all of your lives."

The aim of his orchestra, he said, was to bring "solace and pleasure" through music to the people of Gaza and to let them know that people all over the world care for them. » | Conal Urquhart | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

The Devil Wears Prada, But the Church Wears Armani
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The devil may wear Prada but the Roman Catholic Church has opted for Armani.

Giorgio Armani has designed vestments for a bishop for the inauguration of a new church on the tiny Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, where the designer has a holiday hideaway perched on top of a cliff.

Wearing a mitre and holding his staff, Monsignor Domenico Mogavero, the bishop of Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, showed off his new liturgical robes during a thanksgiving Mass in the courtyard of the new church this week.

The 76-year-old designer, Italy's fourth richest man with an estimated fortune of £4.2 billion, decorated the pale green robe with embroidered symbols of the island, including starfish, shells and olive sprigs.

Armani has strong links to the island, an extinct volcano which lies between Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, its name deriving from the Arabic Bent el-Riah, or daughter of the winds.

He has been holidaying there for nearly 40 years and in 2006 was made an honorary citizen.

"It's not about trying to be fashionable," said the bishop. "It was an initiative aimed at involving a fashion designer who loves Pantelleria and to capitalise on his originality in the service of faith and ultimately of God. Read on and comment » | Nick Squires | Tuesday, April 03, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Italian bishop turns heads with Giorgio Armani vestments: 'This is about wearing something beautiful to give glory to God,' says Bishop Domenico Mogavero » | Tom Kington in Rome | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Osama bin Laden Dead: Wife Was Shot in the Leg, Not Killed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The White House last night changed key elements of its account of Osama bin Laden's death, admitting that the al-Qaeda leader was not armed and that his wife was neither killed nor used as a human shield as senior aides had previously claimed.

Correcting the previous version of events, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said that "some of the information came in piece by piece and is being reviewed and updated and elaborated on".

He then said that two al-Qaeda couriers were killed on the first floor of the main, three-storey building where bin Laden lived. In addition, a woman was killed "in the crossfire" on the ground floor.

When the US Navy SEAL assaulters reached the second floor, a woman, later identified as one of bin Laden's wife, "rushed" a SEAL and was "shot in the leg but not killed". He confirmed that bin Laded was "not armed".

The assault team, with bin Laden's body, then departed by helicopter to the USS Karl Vinson in the northern Arabian Sea.

Mr Carney said that the White House was still "making an evaluation" about whether to release "gruesome" photographs of bin Laden's corpse, adding that there were "sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness".

The pictures of bin Laden are understood to show him with a gaping wound across above [sic] both eyes. » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

FACTBOX-Key political risks to watch in Saudi Arabia
REUTERS: May 3 - The world's No. 1 oil exporter faces the twin challenges of creating jobs for a young population at a time of unrest in the Arab world, and pursuing economic reforms with a royal succession looming.

The stability of Saudi Arabia is of global importance since the kingdom sits on more than a fifth of oil reserves, is home to the biggest Arab stock market, is a major owner of dollar assets and acts as a regional linchpin of U.S. security policy.

King Abdullah, who is around 87, unveiled $93 billion in social handouts in March, on top of another $37 billion announced less than a month earlier.

But this apparent effort to insulate the kingdom from Arab popular protests sweeping the region has not stopped activists, including liberals, Shi'ites and Islamists, calling in petitions for more political freedom. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no elected parliament.

Riyadh has not seen the kind of mass uprisings that have shaken the Arab world this year, but Shi'ites in the kingdom's oil-producing east have staged a number of protests.

Almost no Saudis in Riyadh answered a Facebook call for protests on March 11 in the face of a massive security presence.

Saudi Arabia has been ruled by the Al Saud family for 79 years, with influence from clerics following the austere Wahhabi school of Islam, and many oppose the very reforms the king has started.

However, slowing down reforms to modernise education might affect government plans to create jobs -- unemployment last year reached 10 percent.

And with around 70 percent of Saudi Arabia's almost 19 million people under the age of 30, the pressure to find them gainful employment is huge. » | RIYADH | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Sultan Expects Big Inflow of Tourists to Kingdom’s Resorts
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s participation in international forums such as the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai would boost the flow of tourists to the Kingdom, said Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).

In a statement after visiting the Kingdom’s pavilion at the exhibition, he said Saudi Arabia is replete with tourist attractions including historical sites such as Madain Saleh and Diriya.

He emphasized the need to present Saudi Arabia as a major tourist destination in the region to Gulf citizens in order to encourage them to spend their vacations in the Kingdom’s tourist resorts.

“SCTA intends to organize a variety of attractive programs and activities to woo Saudis as well as GCC citizens to spend their holidays in the Kingdom,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.

He said Saudi tourism would not be limited to Haj and Umrah as new investment projects would enhance tourist facilities and attractions in the Kingdom.

“Forums like the Arabian Travel Market will enable SCTA to make use of the experiences of Arab countries in promoting tourism,” the prince said. » | P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Bahrain to Charge Doctors over Protester Deaths
REUTERS AFRICA: MANAMA - Bahrain said on Tuesday it would charge a number of medical workers with causing the death of two demonstrators, broadening a crackdown on the opposition in the wake of protests that shook the Gulf island kingdom.

Human rights groups say Sunni-led Bahrain has targeted doctors and medical staff who aided mostly-Shi'ite protesters during anti-government demonstrations it crushed in March. It brought in troops from Sunni-led Gulf Arab neighbours who feared potential interference from non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.

Justice Minister Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa told reporters 47 medical staff would face charges, including about two dozen doctors. Not all would be prosecuted for causing the protesters deaths, but he did not say how many would face such charges.

He said the two protesters died because staff inflicted additional wounds on them or gave unneeded treatments.
"The medical profession was strongly abused during this period," he said.

The U.S.-based rights group Physicians for Human Rights that sent a fact-finding mission into Bahrain last month rejected the government's account of events.

"The results of our findings were pointing to a wholly different conclusion," the group's Deputy Director Richard Sollom told Reuters. » | Frederik Richter | Tuesday, May 03, 2011