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Osama’s greatest loves were his golden Mercedes, growing best sunflowers: Wife |
The first wife of Osama bin Laden has come out with a no-holes barred book
revealing the complex character of the world’s number one terrorist. In her memoir
written with help of her fourth son Omar, Najwa bin Laden recounts that Osama
is a contradiction of personality traits. ‘Growing Up Bin Laden’ discloses that
Osama was a disciplinarian who would beat his children for showing too many teeth
when they smiled, but maintained a passion for sunflowers and fast cars. “Osama's
favourite undertaking was working the land, growing the best corn and the biggest
sunflowers," Najwa said. Najwa revealed that Osama banned the use of electrical
appliances in his home and tried to toughen up his sons by making them climb desert
mountains without water. “My father would not allow my mother to turn on the air
conditioning that the contractor had built into the apartment building. Neither
would he allow her to use the refrigerator that was standing in the kitchen,”
The Telegraph quoted Omar, as saying. According to the book, world’s most wanted
terrorist was also fond of mangos and the BBC. Najwa married her cousin Bin Laden
when he was 17 and she was 15 and went on to bear him seven sons, including Omar.
In 1979, the couple visited America . Bin Laden went to see Abdullah Azzam, a
teacher and mentor of bin Laden who preached about jihad in Los Angeles , while
Najwa stayed in Indianapolis with a family friend. Najwa says Americans were kind
and friendly, but the country was not to her conservative tastes. "My husband
and I did not hate America , yet we did not love it," she writes. In lighter moments,
Osama would impress his sons with tales of battles against the Soviet forces occupying
Afghanistan during the 1980s, but became increasingly strict on his return from
the war. The book also reveals that Bin Laden had at least one gold-coloured Mercedes
and once bought a speedboat. Najwa says: "Nothing gave him more satisfaction than
having a full day to take a speedy drive to the desert, where he would leave his
automobile while he took long walks." In lighter moments, his sons admired his
horsemanship and he liked to show off his mathematical ability by challenging
people to beat his arithmetic with a calculator. “My father was so well known
for the skill that there were times when men would come to our home and ask him
to match his wits against a calculator,” Omar said. |
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