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Osama was advised to focus ire on Pakistan

By Anwar Iqbal 2012-05-05
WASHINGTON, May 4: Al Qaeda appeared to be so upset with Pakistan that in a letter to Osama bin Laden, one of his deputies urges him to focus his ire on Pakistan and not Saudi Arabia.

In another letter, Bin Laden also appeared angry with Pakistan and said that the 2010 flood that devastated the country was punishment from God for the sins the Pakistanis had committed.

The two letters are among 17 US commandos confiscated from Osama bin Laden`s compound and were released to the public on Thursday.

`Reminding the people of Pakistan to repent and return to God. This is an issue that I wanted to talk about,` says Bin Laden.

`During those events, I was thinking these floods were caused by sins, but I did not say it because I wanted to be sensitive to the fact that some parents were able to save two children and watched their third drown.`Referring to Al Qaeda`s efforts to stir troubles in Saudi Arabia, one of his deputies in Riyadh wrote to Bin Laden on Sept 14, 2006, and urged him to focus his wrath on Pakistan.

`When looking at the justification for the events, one has to wonder why this is not taking place in Pakistan in spite of the fact that it is closer geographically, easier to reach and known for its strict position toward the Mujahideen,` says the deputy.

The Al Qaeda operative, who identified himself only as `the one who loves you` reminded Bin Laden that Pakistan had `handed over some leaders and others to America, overtly supported the American occupation, and actively participated in toppling the Islamic emirate` In another letter, Bin Laden advised Al Qaeda operatives entering Pakistan from Iran not to visit the flood affected areas that he believed were facing God`s wrath.

Giving his general opinion about the situation in Pakistan, the Al Qaeda leader urged his deputies to keep a low profile until things began to calm down.

In a letter Bin Laden sent to a senior Al Qaeda leader Shaykh Mahmud on Oct 21, 2010, he said that if another operative, Muhammad Shawgi Abu-Ja`far, had arrived at his location, he should arrange for him a safe place and explain to him in details the danger in moving around and all security precautions.

`He might be with the brothers in Kunar. Explain to him in details about the situation in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Waziristan. Then, he can give you his opinion about the location that he is in,` Bin Laden writes.

He urged Shaykh Mahmud not to trust a Pakistani operative, Abu-Salman al-Balochi.

`I know that he is a good Mujahid and got detained in the past, but some of the Baloch people that he knows work for the Pakistani intelligence,` he warns.`I advise you to be careful and not talk to him about your news and secrets. Also, for that reason, my son Hamzah should not be at his place or anywhere near him. As for Hamzah, if you find my companion that we talked about, please send him to Peshawar and the surrounding area and ask him to arrange a house that can hold two families in addition to his family. He should stay there with Hamzah.` He writes: `If you did not find him yet, then please have a trusted Pakistani brother accompany him. Make sure to tell Hamzah that I am of the opinion that he needs to get out of Waziristan if he is there, and he should not go there if he is not there. What I said regarding Hamzah applies to Uthman and Muhammad if they come from Iran.