What was in Osama bin Laden’s computer, CIA reveals

CIA releases new tranche of materials seized in 2011 Osama bin Laden raid

November 02, 2017 12:14 am | Updated 01:08 am IST - WASHINGTON

This April 1998 photo shows al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

This April 1998 photo shows al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

A computer recovered in the 2011 U.S. special forces operation that killed Osama bin Laden contained a video collection 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 U.S. Central Intelligence Agency of nearly 470,000 files found on the computer seized in the May 2, 2011, U.S. 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 U.S. government since May 2015.

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 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.

“Todays 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 online 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.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.