Bin Laden Haunted by Fear of Being Hunted

Bin Laden Haunted by Fear of Being Hunted

  • By Ginger Hill
  • May 20, 2015

It seemed that Bin Laden’s last years spent hiding and hunkered down in his bunker were haunted with thoughts (probably a bit paranoid and rightly so) that he was being hunted by people engaging with new technological advances. A letter that was recently declassified warned one of Laden’s wives, who was travelling from Iran to join him at his undisclosed bunker, to take extra precautions. You see, he didn’t want U.S. agents to be led to his secret hiding place.

Identified as Um Hamza, Laden told her to leave all of her possessions in Iran, including clothes and books, “everything that a needle might possibly penetrate,” Bin Laden was quoted as saying in the letter.

What was Bin Laden’s obsession with needles?

Apparently, he had heard that some small chips had been developed for eavesdropping, so small, in fact, that they could be hidden inside a syringe. Because Laden didn’t trust the Iranians, he was thinking that they may have planted this chip in some of the belongings that his wife, Hamza, was planning on bringing along with her.

Of course, Laden’s bunker was later stormed by Navy SEALs with all three of his wives were present. Hamza was left behind and later arrested by Pakistani authorities.

In addition to this, Bin Laden was concerned about using the Internet for correspondence, identifying couriers as the only way to communicate among his global jihadist operation. And, his security policies even took matters further:

  • No one could go to the doctor, so Bin Laden advised all to take care of themselves, especially their teeth;
  • Al-Qaeda members should keep all prescriptions from doctors to get the meds when they arrived at Bin Laden’s bunker; and
  • Members were urged to learn Urdu for added security.

Sounds like Bin Laden had it all planned out, but the U.S. made sure it was all in vain and to his demise.

Asianet-Pakistan / Shutterstock.com

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

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