Getting your player ready...
CAIRO — Here’s how the new head of al-Qaeda remembers Osama bin Laden: a sensitive man who cried when his friends lost family members, remained close to his children despite the hard life of an international jihadist, and fondly remembered — by name — the 19 men who carried out the deadliest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil.
Longtime bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, now al-Qaeda’s new head, related these and other memories in a new video posted on jihadist websites Tuesday. In the video, al-Zawahri said he wants “to show the human side” of bin Laden’s life.
In doing so, he also is likely trying to boost his own popularity by emphasizing his closeness to al-Qaeda’s former, more charismatic leader.
