Washington – U.S. Releases Documents Recovered In Raid That Killed Bin Laden

    0

    A translated copy of an application to join Osama bin Laden's terrorist network is photographed in Washington, Wednesday, May 20, 2015. The document is among 100 realized by U.S. intelligence officials. U.S. intelligence officials have released more than 100 documents seized in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, including a loving letter to his wife and a job application for his terrorist network. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence says the papers were taken in the Navy SEALs raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.(AP Photo)Washington – Osama bin Laden was fixated on attacking U.S. targets and pressured al Qaeda groups to heal local rivalries and focus on that cause, according to documents the United States says were seized in bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan and released on Wednesday.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement that the release of the documents followed a “rigorous” review by U.S. government agencies and “aligns with the president’s call for increased transparency consistent with national security prerogatives.”

    It said the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act required the office to conduct a review of the documents for release.

    The released material included a variety of declassified documents, a list of English language books recovered from the compound and material published by other militant groups.

    U.S. forces killed bin Laden, leader of the militant organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States in which about 3,000 people died, in a raid on a compound in Abbottabad, a Pakistani city that also was home to a Pakistani military base.

    “It is in the interest of the American public for citizens, academics, journalists and historians to have the opportunity to read and understand bin Laden’s documents,” U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes said in a statement.

    Nunes said Wednesday’s release of 86 new reports, bringing the total number of declassified reports to 120, is “a step in the right direction.” He added: “I look forward to the conclusion of the ongoing efforts to declassify the hundreds of remaining Abbottabad reports to meet congressional requirements.”

    A July 2010 letter, which was among the materials released by U.S. intelligence, showed that bin Laden pressed al Qaeda in Yemen, one of the group’s more active affiliates, to make peace with the government and focus on America.

    Bin Laden’s view was that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) ought to sign a truce with Yemeni authorities or arrange an accommodation in which Yemeni authorities would leave the group alone “in exchange for focusing on America.”

    “The purpose is to focus on striking inside America and its interest abroad, especially oil producing countries, to agitate public opinion and to force US to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq,” according to a summary of the letter by a bin Laden associate identified as “Atiyyah.”

    It says the associate recommended “extra security measures” for Anwar al Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical preacher who became one of AQAP’s principal strategists and spokesman, and also that Awlaki should be required to “change his way of life.”

    Awlaki had served as an imam at a mosque in a Virginia suburb of Washington, which was attended by two militants who participated in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He fled to Yemen after the attacks and was killed in 2011 by a CIA drone strike.

    The documents released on Wednesday were part of a cache seized by U.S. commandos who conducted the 2012 raid on bin Laden’s house in Abbottabad, Pakistan when bin Laden was killed.

    The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement that the release of the documents followed a “rigorous” review by U.S. government agencies as required by the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act.

    Among the materials were declassified documents, including translations of purported correspondence between bin Laden, his aides and members of his family; a list of English-language books recovered from the compound and material published by other militant groups.

    U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes said in a statement that Wednesday’s release of 86 new reports brought the total number of declassified reports seized from bin Laden’s house to 120.

    “I look forward to the conclusion of the ongoing efforts to declassify the hundreds of remaining Abbottabad reports to meet congressional requirements,” he said.

     

    More than 100 were declassified and published athttp://www.dni.gov/index.php/resources/bin-laden-bookshelf?start=1


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group