Bin Laden Courier Identified

Brothers Abrar and Ibrahim Said Ahmad were Osama's link to outside
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2011 12:48 PM CDT
Osama bin Laden Courier and Brother Identified as Abrar and Ibrahim Said Ahmad
In this May 5, 2011 file photo, local residents and media are seen outside the house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan.   (AP Photo/Aqeel Ahmed, File)

The courier who inadvertently led the US to Osama bin Laden has been identified, along with his brother. Abrar and Ibrahim Said Ahmad were born in Kuwait, but their family hailed from a one-time Taliban stronghold in northwest Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani security official. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story, notes that it's not clear which brother is which, although the AP reports that Ibrahim was the courier. The CIA first knew of the courier only through his nom de guerre.

The brothers, who both died in the May 2 raid, maintained a connection to the remote village of Martung in the Swat Valley, which is about 70 miles from Abbottabad, though they were raised in Kuwait. They lived with their families in bin Laden's Abbottabad compound and served as his primary links to the outside world, helping the al-Qaeda leader release videos and communicate with others in al-Qaeda. (More Osama bin Laden stories.)

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