Bin Laden 'wanted to rename al-Qaida'
Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was considering renaming the terror group, according to a letter found in the house in Pakistan where he was killed.
The problem with the name al-Qaida, bin Laden wrote, was that it lacked a religious element, something to convince Muslims worldwide that they are in a holy war with America.
Maybe something like Taifat al-Tawhed Wal-Jihad, meaning Monotheism and Jihad Group, would do the trick, he wrote.
Or Jama’at I’Adat al-Khilafat al-Rashida, meaning Restoration of the Caliphate Group.
As bin Laden saw it, the problem was that the group’s full name, al-Qaida al-Jihad, for The Base of Holy War, had become shortened as simply al-Qaida.
Lopping off the word “jihad,” bin Laden wrote, allowed the West to “claim deceptively that they are not at war with Islam.”
The letter, which was undated, was discovered among bin Laden’s recent writings. US Navy SEALs stormed his compound and killed him before any name change could be made.
The letter was described by US officials.
The documents portray bin Laden as a terrorist chief executive, struggling to sell holy war for a company in crisis.
Bin Laden wrote his musings about renaming al-Qaida as a letter but, as with many of his writings, the recipient was not identified.
