Osama's son wants father to give up violence

(January 22, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Elusive al Qaeda mastermind Osama-bin Laden may have terrorised the world, but his 26-year-old son Omar wants to launch 'a movement of peace' and wishes his father will give up violence and find 'another way' to pursue his goals.

Omar, who last saw Osama in 2000 when he decided to leave al Qaeda, said he did not think his father was a terrorist and was sure that he must have felt 'very sorry' for the 11 September terror attacks.

In interviews to US news channels, Omar, who works as a contractor, however, expressed apprehensions that his father 'doesn't have the power to stop the movement at this moment.'

Omar, who is the fourth of 11 children born to his Osama's first wife and one of 19 children the Al Qaeda leader has fathered, said he is talking publicly because he wants an end to the violence his father has inspired by launching a movement for peace.

'I try and say to my father: 'Try to find another way to help or find your goal. This bomb, this weapons, it's not good to use it for anybody,' he told CNN in broken English.

He said that's not just his own message, but one that a friend of his father's and other Muslims have expressed to him. 'They too say ... my father should change (his) way.'

He said he has no idea where his father is, but is confident he will never be caught because locals support him.

Omar, who has has little in common with his father except his looks minus the beard, grabbed headlines when he married a British national twice his age.

'Being Osama's son, I don't hide it. I don't hide my name,' he said. 'I am proud by my name, but if you have a name like mine you will find people run away from you, are afraid of you.'

[Agencies]