Osama bin Laden a 'ranting chief'

Slain al-Qaeda head was fixated with theatrical extravagance and bringing economies to their knees, according to intelligence found at his home

Slain al-Qaeda head was fixated with theatrical extravagance and bringing economies to their knees, according to intelligence found at his home

Osama bin Laden was a 'ranting chief executive' of the increasingly fractured al-Qaeda terrorist group who argued with his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, over who should be sent to different scheduled missions, the treasure trove of intelligence found at his Abbottabad compound has revealed.

Disagreements
He was reportedly obsessed with making spectacular attacks with an intention of bringing Western economies down, leading to disagreements with his deputy, Zawahiri.


A source examining the information claims that Osama and Zawahiri often argued about whom to send for missions and how to launch operations

A source examining a handwritten journal, five computers, 10 hard drives and 110 thumb drives that were recovered from his hideout in Pakistan, has said that most of bin Laden's ideas were "weird", while another said that he was like a "chief executive on the top floor", although it was unclear whether anyone was actually following the messages he sent to senior commanders.

Bin Laden and Zawahiri are believed to have had differences over how to launch operations, and who should be given which mission.

It was also revealed that both the leaders had discussed plans to derail trains, blow up oil tankers, and also on how to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Earlier this month, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, had said, "The vast majority [of the material] is incredibly sensitive and highly classified but I will say that what we've learned reaffirms [bin Laden's] focus on the United States and other western powers and secondly that he was very active in terms of leading."

Another leader who features prominently in the memos is Ilyas Kashmiri, who was planning attacks on Britain last year and who now is believed to have been killed by a US drone on June 3 in South Waziristan, near the Afghan border.