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Journalism of Courage
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden praises martyrdom as a weapon and a path to glory for Muslims in a video that CNN said on Saturday was intercepted before it was to appear on radical Islamist websites.
CNN, which noted it could not verify the authenticity of the 40-minute video, said on its website that there was no indication of where or when the footage had been shot.
Bin Laden was wearing army fatigues and appeared to be addressing followers.
Bin Laden appears in only a 50-second portion of the video. “What is this status that the best of mankind wished for himself?” bin Laden asks. “He wished to be a martyr. He himself said: ‘By Him in whose hands my life is! I would love to attack and be martyred.”’
“This glorious prophet who was inspired by God summarised this entire life by these words. He wished upon himself this status. Happy is one who was chosen by God as a martyr,” said bin Laden.
