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Osama bin Laden’s Son Seen Rising in al-Qaida

Saad bin Laden suspected of organizing network’s operations

Monday, July 29, 2002
The Associated Press

Saad bin Laden.
Image Credit: Nightly Press file photo.

“There are three, four, five, six, seven people ... who know where the bank accounts are, who know the key players, the key planners, and are perfectly capable of running that operation,” Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters. “Whether the son ends up being one of them, one never knows until ... that takes place.”

WASHINGTON -- AP
Osama bin Laden’s third eldest son has emerged as a leader in al-Qaida, gaining enough prestige that counterterrorism officials now consider him among their top two dozen targets remaining in the terrorist network.

Saad bin Laden, a Saudi who is about 22, is suspected by U.S. authorities of helping organize some of al-Qaida’s operations during the last few months, providing the financial and other logistical support necessary to set attacks in motion, one official said on condition of anonymity.

He is suspected of ties to al-Qaida’s first successful operation after the Sept. 11 attacks -- the suicide bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia that left 19 dead, most of them German tourists.

Like his father, Saad bin Laden is believed to be in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region. It is unclear if he is with Osama bin Laden, whose whereabouts and condition remain unknown.

* ‘One Never Knows’
* More Power in the Field
* Blood Will Tell
(More: MSNBC.com News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

I find this bit to be a pretty solid indicator that Pop is dead.

Dan