May 2, 2011

by legitgov

News of bin Laden’s Death and Funeral – December 2001 – www.legitgov.org.

Translation of Funeral Article in Egyptian Paper:

al-Wafd, Wednesday, December 26, 2001, Vol 15 No 4633

“News of Bin Laden’s Death and Funeral 10 Days Ago.” Arabic report circulated in December 2001 as an al-Wafd item, based on an unnamed Taliban official quoted in Pakistan’s Observer. It said Osama bin Laden had died of lung complications near Tora Bora and had been buried in an unmarked grave. Similar death and funeral reports were published that week in Pakistan, the Arab press, and U.S. outlets.

26 Dec 2001 Islamabad – A prominent official in the Afghan Taleban movement announced yesterday the death of Osama bin Laden, the chief of al-Qa’da organization, stating that bin Laden suffered serious complications in the lungs and died a natural and quiet death.

The official, who asked to remain anonymous, stated to The Observer of Pakistan that he had himself attended the funeral of bin Laden and saw his face prior to burial in Tora Bora 10 days ago.

He mentioned that 30 of al-Qa’da fighters attended the burial as well as members of his family and some friends from the Taleban. In the farewell ceremony to his final rest guns were fired in the air. The official stated that it is difficult to pinpoint the burial location of bin Laden because according to the Wahhabi tradition no mark is left by the grave. He stressed that it is unlikely that the American forces would ever uncover any traces of bin Laden.

Reported Funeral mid-December 2001

See also the CLG 9/11 Exposition Zone archived here.