Last updated at 4:54 PM on 8th May 2011
- Five 'home videos' released by U.S. shows Bin Laden's life in the compound
- Footage shows Bin Laden in a gold robe and forgetting his lines as he speaks to the camera in propaganda video outtakes
- Vanity of terror chief who dyed grey beard black before recording videos
- Also shows him flipping through satellite channels trying to find coverage of himself on TV
- Intelligence officer describes evidence at compound at 'single largest collection' of senior terrorist material ever
- Other, shaky footage shows litter-strewn compound in barely habitable state
- House worth no more than $250,000 say experts
As American forces desperately hunted high and low for Osama Bin Laden, the terror chief was sitting on the floor of a compound in Pakistan - watching footage of President Barack Obama on the news.
These astonishing home videos, seized by Navy SEALs after Bin Laden was killed on Sunday and released today, show the Al Qaeda head watching coverage of the the man who would eventually give the order that resulted in his death.
The five movies also show the terror leader watching himself on television as, even from behind the walls of the compound, he continued to manipulate his image.
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Creature comforts: A detailed image shows the objects around Osama Bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound, including TVs, a PC, digital decoder... and a boster pillow
Eerie: The footage shows several scenes of Mr Obama at a news conference. It is not yet clear when the footage was filmed
Image-obsessed: In video one of the five, Osama Bin Laden can be seen sitting on the dirty floor of the compound watching video footage of himself on television
The footage offers the first public glimpse at Bin Laden's life behind the walls of his compound in suburban Pakistan. The government-selected clips also provide an opportunity for the U.S. to paint Bin Laden in an unflattering light to his supporters.
The videos include outtakes of his propaganda films, showing the terror chief flubbing his lines.
Taken together, they portray him as someone obsessed with his own image and how he is portrayed to the world - even from the confines of the compound.
The videos, released by U.S. intelligence officials Saturday, were offered as further proof that Navy SEALs killed the world's most wanted terrorist this week.
Pay attention: A detail of the video shows that Bin Laden, left, with a grey beard and, right, footage of himself on Al Jazeera television
Channel choices: A close-up of Bin Laden's TV shows that his favourite channel list, include Al Jazeera and the BBC Arabic channels
One of the movies shows Bin Laden, his unkempt beard streaked in grey, sitting on the floor, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control.
He flipped back and forth between what appears to be live news coverage of himself. The old, small television was perched on top of a desk with a large tangle of electrical wires running to a nearby control box.
The video, which the U.S. released without sound, was titled Message To The American People and was believed to be filed some time last autumn, a senior CIA official told reporters today.
The videos were seized from Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Video Two: In another of the released videos, Bin Laden is wearing a gold robe and his beard has been dyed black in what appears to be a propaganda video outtake
Video Three: Bin Laden, his beard dyed again, stands in front of what was described as a wooden armoire. Intelligence officials say they found the same armoire in the compound. The video has not been dated
Video Four: The terror chief, wearing a white shirt with a T-shirt underneath, is standing against a brown background. Once again, there is no date on the video, and the U.S. did not release the audio accompaniment
Video Five: In the fifth video released by the White House, Bin Laden is back in his gold robes but the backdrop is now a less impressive un-ironed white sheet
The evidence seized during the raid also includes phone numbers and documents that officials hope will help break the back of the organisation behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Intelligence officials have known that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda monitored the news. But for years, when it was assumed that he was living in Pakistan's rugged, mountainous tribal region, some believed he might not be able to get real-time news.
After the CIA discovered Bin Laden's suburban compound, they realised that a satellite dish provided a television feed to Bin Laden's compound.
The video also reveals that Bin Laden had a computer in his home, though officials say there were no Internet or phone lines running from the house.
They emerged today as other video footage leaked to Al Jazeera showed the terror leader had been living in virtual squalor in Abottabad.
Strewn with rubbish and with paint peeling off the walls, the dirt-infested compound appears barely habitable and is a far cry from initial claims the compound was a sophisticated $1million hideaway.
The ramshackle structure resembles a building site and the pictures of the outside show steel rods protruding from the roof, suggesting it may have been incomplete.
Of course, some damage would have been caused during the American Navy Seal mission to capture the 9/11 mastermind, but the footage is still very revealing.
It was released today on the Al Jazeera English website and gives a shaky tour of what appears to be the inside of the main house, a few outbuildings and a small fruitless orchard.
The stash is part of a wealth of information collected during the U.S. raid that killed Bin Laden and four others last week.
The information suggests Bin Laden played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al Qaeda and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, two senior officials said.
Information collected in the haul also suggests that top al Qaeda commanders and other key insurgents are scattered throughout Pakistan, not just in the rugged border areas as previously though, and are being supported and given sanctuary by Pakistanis.
Despite protests from Pakistan, defeating al Qaeda and taking out its senior leaders in Pakistan remains a top U.S. priority, demonstrated by the failed attempt to take out the man tipped to replace Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, in Yemen on Thursday.
The U.S. remains defiant despite complaints from Islamabad that the raid on Bin Laden's compound violated the country's sovereignty, an anonymous senior defence official said yesterday.
But the U.S. is bracing itself for retaliation following Bin Laden's death, with the Taliban in Afghanistan warning that the killing of the al Qaeda leader would only boost morale of insurgents battling the U.S. and its Nato allies.
Al Qaeda itself vowed revenge, confirming Bin Laden's death for the first time but issuing a chilling warning that Americans' 'happiness will turn to sadness'.
Following last week's raid, the U.S. has already launched a drone strike into Pakistan as well as the one in Yemen, in the days since Bin Laden was killed.
After the CIA discovered Bin Laden's suburban compound, they realised that a satellite dish provided a television feed to Bin Laden's compound.
The video also reveals that Bin Laden had a computer in his home, though officials say there were no Internet or phone lines running from the house.
They emerged today as other video footage leaked to Al Jazeera showed the terror leader had been living in virtual squalor in Abottabad.
Strewn with rubbish and with paint peeling off the walls, the dirt-infested compound appears barely habitable and is a far cry from initial claims the compound was a sophisticated $1million hideaway.
The ramshackle structure resembles a building site and the pictures of the outside show steel rods protruding from the roof, suggesting it may have been incomplete.
Of course, some damage would have been caused during the American Navy Seal mission to capture the 9/11 mastermind, but the footage is still very revealing.
It was released today on the Al Jazeera English website and gives a shaky tour of what appears to be the inside of the main house, a few outbuildings and a small fruitless orchard.
The stash is part of a wealth of information collected during the U.S. raid that killed Bin Laden and four others last week.
The information suggests Bin Laden played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al Qaeda and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, two senior officials said.
Worth $250,000: The Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan was said to be worth $1 million. But local experts put the figure much lower, and footage shows it in a run-down state
Rubbish-strewn: With paint peeling off the walls, the dirt-infested compound appears barely habitable and is a far cry from original claims the compound was a sophisticated £1m hideaway
Squalid: It seems hard to believe the mastermind of 9-11 and countless other terrorist atrocities lived in such conditions
Despite protests from Pakistan, defeating al Qaeda and taking out its senior leaders in Pakistan remains a top U.S. priority, demonstrated by the failed attempt to take out the man tipped to replace Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, in Yemen on Thursday.
The U.S. remains defiant despite complaints from Islamabad that the raid on Bin Laden's compound violated the country's sovereignty, an anonymous senior defence official said yesterday.
Glimpse: The wife of Osama Bin Laden, Amal al-Sadah, pictured right, says she lived with her husband in the same room for the past five years
Al Qaeda itself vowed revenge, confirming Bin Laden's death for the first time but issuing a chilling warning that Americans' 'happiness will turn to sadness'.
Following last week's raid, the U.S. has already launched a drone strike into Pakistan as well as the one in Yemen, in the days since Bin Laden was killed.
The strikes have been carried out by pilotless CIA drones as U.S. military and intelligence officials attempt to take advantage of the data they swept up in the raid before insurgents have a chance to change plans or locations.
The raid on Bin Laden's compound deep inside the Pakistan border has further eroded already strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, and angry Pakistani officials have said they want the U.S. to reduce its military presence in their country.
The Pakistani army, while acknowledging it failed to find Bin Laden, said it would review cooperation with the U.S. if there is another similar attack.
Pakistani officials have denied sheltering Bin Laden, and they have criticised the U.S. operation as a violation of their country's sovereignty.
But a senior defence official said recent protests by Islamabad about the raid would not stop the U.S. from moving against terror leaders that threaten American security.
President Obama has made it clear that the U.S. will take action wherever necessary to root out al Qaeda, which has declared war on the United States and has been using Pakistan as a base to plot and direct attacks from there and other insurgent locations around the world.
The official also said there are no plans to scale back U.S. training of the Pakistani frontier corps and army. But the decision is up to Pakistan.
U.S. administration leaders have been careful not to directly accuse the Pakistani government of being complicit in the existence of sanctuaries that have cloaked Bin Laden and his lieutenants.
But it strains credibility that the most wanted man in the world could have been hiding there in a large compound without Pakistani officials knowing.
Counter-terrorism officials have debated how big a role Bin Laden and core al Qaeda leaders were playing in the attacks launched by affiliated terror groups, particularly al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, and al-Shabab in Somalia.
According to officials, information gathered in the compound suggests that Bin Laden was much more involved in directing al Qaeda personnel and operations than analysts had thought.
It also suggests Bin Laden was 'giving strategic direction' to al Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, the source said.
Officials say they have already learned a great deal from Bin Laden's cache of computers and data, but they would not confirm reports that it yielded clues to the whereabouts of al Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.
Al-Zawahri is a leading candidate to take Bin Laden's place as the leader of the terror group.
On Friday, President Obama with the U.S. commandos who killed Bin Laden.
'Job well done,' the president declared, addressing roughly 2,000 troops after meeting privately with the full assault team - Army helicopter pilots and Navy SEAL commandos - who executed the dangerous raid.
Their identities are kept secret.
Meanwhile, the house - which the U.S. government described as as a $1m mansion in an 'extraordinarily unique compound' in an 'affluent suburb' - is in fact worth no more than $250,000 say local experts.
It can be added to the mounting descriptions which have proved incorrect, such as that Bin Laden was armed when killed, and that he had used one of his wives as a human shield.
Two property professionals in Abbottabad said that - based on the size of the plot and the house, which was built in 2005, and using recent property sales as a guide - it was worth a quarter of the original estimate at best.
'Twenty million rupees, maximum,' said property dealer Muhammad Anwar, a 22-year veteran of the local market, at his Abbottabad office. 'No swimming pool. This is not a posh area. We call it a middling area.'
The raid on Bin Laden's compound deep inside the Pakistan border has further eroded already strained relations between Washington and Islamabad, and angry Pakistani officials have said they want the U.S. to reduce its military presence in their country.
The Pakistani army, while acknowledging it failed to find Bin Laden, said it would review cooperation with the U.S. if there is another similar attack.
Pakistani officials have denied sheltering Bin Laden, and they have criticised the U.S. operation as a violation of their country's sovereignty.
Barely habitable: The ramshackle structure resembles like a building site and the grounds of the compound, shown here, appear to have been dug up and is littered with unidentifiable objects
President Obama has made it clear that the U.S. will take action wherever necessary to root out al Qaeda, which has declared war on the United States and has been using Pakistan as a base to plot and direct attacks from there and other insurgent locations around the world.
The official also said there are no plans to scale back U.S. training of the Pakistani frontier corps and army. But the decision is up to Pakistan.
U.S. administration leaders have been careful not to directly accuse the Pakistani government of being complicit in the existence of sanctuaries that have cloaked Bin Laden and his lieutenants.
But it strains credibility that the most wanted man in the world could have been hiding there in a large compound without Pakistani officials knowing.
Terror lair: The revealing pictures come as it emerged that home videos and propaganda tapes found in the compound may be released which show Bin Laden strolling around his secret lair
According to officials, information gathered in the compound suggests that Bin Laden was much more involved in directing al Qaeda personnel and operations than analysts had thought.
It also suggests Bin Laden was 'giving strategic direction' to al Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, the source said.
Assassination: This picture appears to show a stain, perhaps blood. The images come as Al-Qaeda confirmed Bin Laden's death for the first time, vowed revenge
Al-Zawahri is a leading candidate to take Bin Laden's place as the leader of the terror group.
On Friday, President Obama with the U.S. commandos who killed Bin Laden.
'Job well done,' the president declared, addressing roughly 2,000 troops after meeting privately with the full assault team - Army helicopter pilots and Navy SEAL commandos - who executed the dangerous raid.
Their identities are kept secret.
New satellite image shows where the U.S. helicopter crashed during the Bin Laden raid
It can be added to the mounting descriptions which have proved incorrect, such as that Bin Laden was armed when killed, and that he had used one of his wives as a human shield.
Two property professionals in Abbottabad said that - based on the size of the plot and the house, which was built in 2005, and using recent property sales as a guide - it was worth a quarter of the original estimate at best.
'Twenty million rupees, maximum,' said property dealer Muhammad Anwar, a 22-year veteran of the local market, at his Abbottabad office. 'No swimming pool. This is not a posh area. We call it a middling area.'
