Omar bin Laden may have the world’s most infamous surname but he has been humbled by the ‘hand of friendship’ people with good hearts have extended since his father’s horror 9/11 attack
Omar bin Laden’s surname evokes fear and horror around the world but the son of the 9/11 terrorist said he will never scorn it.
His grandfather, Mohammed bin Laden, travelled to Saudi Arabia and worked hard to build a construction empire, putting himself at the right hand of King Abdulaziz years before his son, Osama forever tarnished his name with the Twin Tower attacks.
“I would be a lesser man than my grandfather if I were to scorn his name,” Omar revealed in an interview with The New Statesman.
“People are surprised when they learn that I am the son of Osama bin Laden. But once they get their wits in order, they are curious about my life and usually extend a hand of friendship, which leads me to believe that most people have very good hearts.”
Osama’s fourth son said he has forgiven his terror chief father and revealed how turning to art helps him relive “the simplicity of childhood” before his father became the world’s most wanted man.
He has even painted the mountains where the Al-Qaeda founder hid following the 9/11 Twin Towers attack.
He told Vice: “I want the world to learn that I have grown; that I am comfortable within myself for the first time in my life, that the past is the past and one must learn to live with what has gone by.
“One must forgive if not forget, so that one may be at peace with one’s emotions.”
In May 1996 Bin Laden left for the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan, choosing Omar alone to accompany him, and set up terror training camps.
He became his father’s tea boy, living in freezing huts and on meagre rations before leaving months before the 9/11 atrocity which he has condemned.
Omar, who is said to have up to 25 siblings through his father, painted the mountain scene while living in Normandy, France, with his British wife.
Omar, who grew up in Saudi Arabia and has never been to the US, added he loved American westerns and that Unforgiven starring Clint Eastwood was one of his favourites.
He said: “I like old Western films… I respect cowboys. I love cowboy dignity.”
The spitting image of his father added painting “runs in my blood” and comes from his mother – allowing him into “the world of dreams and imagination”.
He said: “I think I’m trying to find some light at the end of this dark road.
“I hope painting will open the light in my life again.”
Omar, who continues to battle PTSD, bipolar disorder and the psychological scars of his upbringing, relived his own memories of 9/11 and even wrote a book called Growing Up bin Laden.
He said: “I was staying in the home of my father’s mother in Jeddah. I had been sound asleep and was woken by my uncle yelling: ‘Look what your father has done!’ I went into the sitting area and my family were gathered around the television. I soon learned that America was under attack. It was a very sad day.”
He added: “I did not agree with my uncle’s reaction. I never thought my father was capable of the carnage in America – it was too big for his small organisation.
“I cannot speak for my father’s family. This topic is too painful for us to talk about. We were all so shocked by the suffering of those poor people that, after that morning, none of us ever had a conversation about it.” Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by US Navy Seals in 2011…..Review More
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