US releases five home videos

The US on Saturday made public five videos seized during the raid at the slain Osama bin Laden8217;s mansion in Abbottabad in Pakistan which officials said was in fact an active command and control centre of al-Qaeda. The newly released videos included one showing Osama in which his hair and beard are white watching images of himself on television inside Abbottabad house. Wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control,Osama was shown flipping back and forth between clips of himself. The small television was perched on top of a desk with wires running to a nearby cable or control box.

Osama was active in plotting terrorist strikes,issuing directives to the commanders on the ground and not just simply a strategic planner and leader of al-Qaeda,a senior US intelligence officer told reporters at a Pentagon briefing while releasing the five videos recovered from the Abbottabad compound.

The videos gave some of the rare insight of the al-Qaeda leader. In one of the videos,the 9/11 mastermind was shown filming for terrorist propaganda videos after he apparently dyed and neatly trimmed his beard. Another video is described by Osama as 8220;A message to the American people8221; that is believed to have been recorded in October or November last,the official said.