US releases five rare videos of Osama, but removes audios

Washington, May 8 (PTI) Giving a rare insight into the
lifestyle and personality of Osama bin Laden and how he
"jealously guarded" his image, the US has released five videos
of the slain terror kingpin seized during the raid on his
Abbottabad mansion which was an "active command and control
centre" of al-Qaeda.
Authorities have removed audio from the footage because
it would be inappropriate to spread the words of terrorists
and their propaganda messages, especially bin Laden's, a
senior US intelligence official explained, walking through
details from the five video clips found among the material at
the compound of the al-Qaeda leader in the Pakistani garrison
city.
The rare video footage has not been altered in any other
way, the official asserted, adding that bin Laden's Abbottabad
compound was "an active command and control centre" for al-
Qaeda's top leader.
"It is clear that he (bin Laden) was not just a strategic
thinker of the group. He was active in operational planning
and driving tactical decisions inside al-Qaeda."
The video clips, not seen in the public domain so far,
were being released to underscore two main points: first, to
make it clear that bin Laden remained active in al-Qaeda's
terrorist propaganda operations, especially in shaping his own
image. Second, it is highly unlikely that some of this footage
would have resided anywhere else but with bin Laden, the
official said.
The first video is a complete yet unreleased bin
Laden video. He calls it "A Message to the American People",
which US intelligence agencies believe was produced sometime
between October 9 and November 5, 2010.
"We don't know why the video hasn't yet appeared," the
official said. In this video, bin Laden's beard was dyed
black.
In this message, he repeats his usual themes by
condemning the US policy and denigrating capitalism, the
official said.
"We're obviously reviewing these and other materials,
other videos to see if there's any threat information
contained within them.
"I'm unaware personally that this particular video
contains any specific or direct threat information but we're
obviously continuing to analyse that video," the official
said.

The second video, also produced between October 9 and
November 5, 2010, shows bin Laden watching his own images on
television.
In the longest of all his videos, bin Laden appears to be
browsing various news channels, and finally watching his own
image being telecast on a television channel. But it is not
yet clear, if this was a live telecast of playing a previous
recording.
"It's improbable that this kind of footage would be
anywhere but with bin Laden. He jealously guarded his image,"
the senior intelligence official said, referring to the second
video in which bin Laden has not coloured or trimmed his
beard, suggesting that this practice was one he reserved for
films he planned to distribute.
One can see bin Laden gesturing to the person recording
him to focus on the image on television of bin Laden firing a
rifle.
Not commenting on the fact that in this video his
beard is not dyed, the official said he was clearly an al-
Qaeda leader who was very interested in his own image.
"He took very seriously and engaged very heavily in
al-Qaeda propaganda operations, so, we'll have to do some more
analysis on that, but our take-away is that he jealously
guarded his image," the official said.
The last three video clips are short and show rehearsal
sessions by the al-Qaeda leader. "Some are clearly out-takes.
The first video shows bin Laden practising in front of an
armoire," the official said.
The third video clip shows the beginning of a video
session where either he or the filmmaker missed the cue and
fumbled the lighting.
"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the armoire
is an armoire that matches one at the compound," the official
said.
The fifth and final clip shows an out-take from a
practice session in front of a wrinkled sheet. That was
probably used as a temporary backdrop, the official noted.