Bin Laden will a fake - al-Qaida
A statement attributed to the al-Qaida terror network had accused a London-based pan-Arab news magazine of fabricating Osama bin Laden’s will.
Last week, Al-Majallah published what it said was bin Laden’s will dated December 14, 2001, in which the al-Qaida leader accused fellow Muslim leaders of betraying him as his fighters were under American attack in Afghanistan.
The statement that appeared yesterday on a radical Islamic Web site monitored in Dubai, said the document was “full of lies” and not written by bin Laden. It accused Al-Majallah’s Saudi owners of exploiting bin Laden’s name to increase the magazine’s circulation.
Hani al-Naqshabandi, Al-Majallah’s editor in chief, said in London today that the magazine stood by the story.
“We wouldn’t have published the will if we hadn’t confirmed it from our sources,” he said.
Al-Naqshabandi said the magazine will soon publish a series of new documents related to al-Qaida that will confirm the authenticity of bin Laden’s will.
American intelligence officials said at the time that they had not verified the authenticity of the will.
Friday’s statement said that the day the will was supposedly signed bin Laden was addressing his fighters, urging them to battle on.
