Son Calls on Osama to Drop His Weapons

Younger Bin Laden says he doesn't consider dad a terrorist
By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2008 1:30 PM CST
Son Calls on Osama to Drop His Weapons
Omar Osama bin Laden is seen during an interview with the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 11, 2008. The 26-year-old son of the al-Qaida leader does not renounce his father in an interview with The Associated Press, but says there is a better way to defend Islam   (Associated Press)

The world's most notorious terrorist's peace-loving son is calling on Osama bin Laden to “find another way.” Omar bin Laden, Osama’s fourth son, tells CNN many other Muslims share his sentiments about al-Qaeda but acknowledges that his dad “doesn't have the power to stop the movement at this moment."

The 26-year-old doesn't consider Osama a terrorist, he says, because Washington considered bin Laden a hero when he fought the Soviets: "Before they call it war; now they call it terrorism." Nevertheless, Omar bin Laden left his father's al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan—with his father's blessing—after they parted ways on the killing of civilians. (More Omar bin Laden stories.)

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