Half-brother of bin Laden said he never thinks of turning in al-Qaida lead

[DoYouEverWonder]

http://www.nj.com/breakingnews/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0544_BC_BinLadenBrother&&news&tradecentercrash

July 9, 2004

NEW YORK (AP) -- A half-brother of Osama bin Laden said in a television interview he never thinks of whether to turn in the al-Qaida leader and questioned which court would try him.

Asked hypothetically whether he would turn in the al-Qaeda leader, Yeslam Binladin replied: "What do you think? Would you turn in your brother? Or half brother? Tell me. I put the question back to you. You answer it."

In the testy exchange broadcast Friday on the "Today" show, NBC's Matt Lauer responded by saying that someone accused of murdering thousands should have their day in court, to which Binladin agreed.

He then asked "Which court?" when Lauer again questioned whether Binladin would turn in his brother.

<snip>

Binladin has been under scrutiny in France and Switzerland during a money-laundering investigation but has never been charged.


Gee, I wonder if this was one of the family members who flew out of the US on Sept 13, 2001? Or if the FBI or CIA has ever bothered to interview him? Especially considering the fact that he is under investigation for money laundering, you would think he might be of interest to the authorities? Instead, he's a free man doing TV interviews. Go figure?

[leesa]

1. No Kidding. He turns in OBL and the entire BushCo 9-11 gig is up.

Besides, if OBL has true kidney disease requiring dialysis, he's probably been dead for awhile now...although working for the BFEE probably can buy you a couple new kidneys. I 'spect OBL is in Cheney's bunker. We can probably ask Dick what the scoop is

[Rockholm]

2. I Saw This CRAPPY Interview Snippet on Today this AM

I will never watch the Today Show again (I have abandoned GMA weeks ago). Watching Matt Laurer lob easy questions to this man, all the while smiiling so gently at him, I WANTED TO PUKE!!!! God, Laurer tore into Michael Moore with such gusto and nastiness and he gives this guy a pass. Cheney 'em all. I have HAD IT with television "news."

[prodigal_green]

3. I wouldn't turn in any of my family

regardless of the crime. Luckily, they are some of the finest, most civic- and family-oriented men I know, so this should never be put to the test.

Actually, I tell their girlfriends or wives (some are married, some not) this all the time. I don't care what he did, he's my brother and he's right and you're wrong. That is, however, where my blind loyalty ends.

[thecrow]

4. Pfffft

[theHandpuppet]

8. Ditto that!

[diamond14]

6. the uni-bomber's brother turned him in....made a deal that his brother

would not be KILLED by the USA...but he KNEW that it was the right thing to do....if my own brother was a serial-killer....I would turn him in before he killed again....

the uni-bomber recognized his own brother's writing, published in the NYT as his manifesto...only a brother would know, and save others....

[hightime]

11. Like we can now believe you when you say "they are some of the finest,

most civic- and family-oriented men I know." For all we kmow they are child abusing rapists, murderers and thieves and you are a self-professed potential liar. NICE.


"regardless of the crime" :puke:

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. If my brother was responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent

people, I sure as hell would turn him in. It's ridiculous in my opinion to even think of doing otherwise. It's not like he stole a car, egged a house...


And what a diservice you do to your sisters in law who are also your family. Especially if they have come to you with real need. That's horrid. Would you say the same if they were being beaten by your brothers? Don't answer that...I don't want to know.

[colonel odis]

5. unlike a girl from alabama,

bin laden will never be fingered by his brother.

sorry. couldn't resist.

[NashVegas]

7. ... So much for 'OBL's family have disowned him'

..

[T Bone]

18. ya, if the half bro won't turn him in none of the full siblings will

dontcha know ?

so much for the 'family does not have ties to him, nor acknowledges him'.

Blood is thicker than water, and thicker than your handshake deals with the Bush family.

[Pastiche423]

21. Osama bin Laden has no full siblings

[daleo]

9. The Unabomber's brother turned him in

And this was considered to be a laudable thing to do by most people in the U.S. (the same would be true in Canada and most other western countries, I think). But many cultures do not share this belief. Turning one's brother over to the state (especially a foreign state) would be considered to be unnatural. This would be particularly true among the ruling classes, I think.

This can also transcend nationality, and this is one of the things that Micheal Moore was getting at with the Bandar Bush stuff in F-911. The ruling classes have loyalties that frequently transcend their own national identification. Their first loyalty is to money.

[UpInArms]

14. that was the first thing that came to my mind daleo

http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/20/unabomber.reward/

Unabomber's brother gets $1 million for turning him in

Money will help victims' families

August 20, 1998
Web posted at: 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department announced Thursday it had given the government's $1 million reward for information in the Unabomber case to David Kaczynski, the brother of convicted serial bomber Theodore Kaczynski.

David Kaczynski, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, has said he would use the money to ease the grief of families victimized by his brother's bombs.

The decision to award the money to Kaczynski was announced Thursday by Justice Department spokesman John Russell. A check has already been turned over, he said.

The 18-year-old case was cracked after Kaczynski came forward in April 1996 and told the FBI that he suspected his brother, Ted, was the Unabomber.

...more...

[LittleApple81]

10. Here I go again. Had to send an e-mail. Just venting, I know.

It will do no good.


I just watched Mr. Lauer's idiotic, dew-eyed interview with Mr. Bin Laden in Switzerland.

Could Mr. Lauer not investigate the real travel dates for the Saudis on his own? There is plenty of documentation now available. He does not have to trust Mr. Moore, but at least he could make an effort to have documentation with which to counter Mr. Moore's account properly. Mr. Moore doesn't call himself a journalist but he has you beat!

Or does he prefer to be a parrot for BIN LADEN'S BROTHER??? Is that his most reliable source? Not even the police in three countries believe Mr. Bin Laden, for God's sake!

Or maybe it is easier and more comforting for Mr. Lauer to act towards the Bin Ladens as he and the rest of the media have acted towards the administration: no fact checking of government statements, repeating the talking points, etc.

Does MSNBC hire journalists or parrots?

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. What I don't understand

is if the French and Swiss authorities are supposedly looking for this guy, why is he getting away with giving interviews?

[T Bone]

19. anything NBC is just part of the GOP stenography pool

There is no journalism in America anymoore, ok a few rare exceptions.

Most of them are just stenographers covering for gop corruption.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Turns out Yeslem's daughter

is one of the bin Ladens to leave the country on Sept. 13th.

So let me see if I get this right, her father is wanted for money laundering and her uncle just destroyed the WTC and the Pentagon, and she gets a free ride out?

In the meantime, brown skinned people all over the world are being pulled off the street and taken to secret prisons. Then it turns out most of them have done nothing wrong. All for W's war on terra. Go figure.

edit: forgot to post link

http://www.audarya-fellowship.com/showflat/cat/WorldNews/25517/11/collapsed/5/o/1


Around two dozen other American-based members of the bin Laden family, most of them here to study in colleges and prep schools, were said to be in the United States at the time of the attacks. The New York Times reported that they were quickly called together by officials from the Saudi Embassy, which feared that they might become the victims of American reprisals. With approval from the F.B.I., according to a Saudi official, the bin Ladens flew by private jet from Los Angeles to Orlando, then on to Washington, and finally to Boston. Once the F.A.A. permitted overseas flights, the jet flew to Europe. United States officials apparently needed little persuasion from the Saudi Ambassador in Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, that the extended bin Laden family included no material witnesses. The Saudi Embassy says that the family coöperated with the F.B.I. The Saudi government has said that the family signed a statement officially disowning Osama in 1994, a year after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The Saudi government also stripped bin Laden of his citizenship, which resulted in self-exile to Sudan. When I asked a senior United States intelligence officer whether anyone had considered detaining members of the family, he replied, "That's called taking hostages. We don't do that."

[lostnfound]

16. Yeslam was suspected of providing financial support to terrorists

http://www.binladenfamily.com/BinLadenEvidence.html

This article discusses Islamic groups funded by Saudi Business Group SBG, then has this:

Possible Direct Financial Support for Terrorism & Direct Contact with Osama

"Western intelligence services are now examining the financial ties that may exist between the affairs of the United States' public enemy number one and those of his family. The SBG group encompasses some 100 offshore subsidiaries in tax havens, most of which are managed, under very obscure conditions, by Yeslam Bin Ladin's Saudi Investment Group." ("Bin Ladin Family Businesses Scrutinized for Ties to Terrorism", Le Monde, September 23, 2001)

" also discussed the intense pressure he is getting from U.S. intelligence agencies who suspect him and other family members of funneling money to Al Qaeda." (Peg Tyre, Periscope section, Newsweek, November 19, 2001)

[lostnfound]

17. Also he owned an aviation company in FL that may have trained hijackers

"Swiss federal police are questioning terror warlord Osama bin Laden's older brother - a key figure in the family's business empire. Yeslam bin Laden is a millionaire banker who runs the Geneva-based Saudi Investment Company (SICO). The Swiss company manages much of the European business interests of the Saudi Binladin Group, which belongs to Osama's estranged family. A source in the Swiss attorney general's office said that federal investigators had conducted a series of interviews with the brother on several days since the September 11 attacks in America. The source added that some of the questions had been raised by law enforcement agencies in America and elsewhere. A spokeswoman for the attorney general confirmed the investigation, but declined to provide details. The attorney general's office set up a terror task force following the attacks. Its interest in Yeslam was sparked because an aviation company he owns offered pilot training at the Florida flying school attended by some of the hijackers. Investigators have also been asking him questions about SICO. (Mark Watts and Kevin Dowling, "Swiss Police Quiz Bin Laden’s Brother", The Express on Sunday, October 28, 2001)

[lostnfound]

20. Hey Ashcroft! Why not declare this guy a 'material witness'..

enemy combatant? review his library books?

Guess he's not the type you are looking for..he's too rich?