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Will Al-Qaeda Reemerge? Bin Laden's Son Gives More Orders to Kill

<p class&equals;"MsoNormal" style&equals;"text-align&colon; left&semi;" align&equals;"center">Even though Osama bin Laden no longer lives&comma; his thirst for terrorism lives on in his 28-year-old son&period; &nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">In a new Al-Qaeda propaganda video&comma; Hamza bin Laden is continuing his father&rsquo&semi;s &ldquo&semi;work&rdquo&semi; by encouraging extremists to commit terrorist attacks in the West&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">The 10-minute video is the latest in the string of propaganda videos featuring voiceovers from Hamza and it offers &&num;8220&semi;advice for martyrdom-seekers in the West&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&&num;8220&semi;Follow in the footsteps of martyrdom-seekers before you&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says Hamza in the video&period; &&num;8220&semi;Pick off from where they left&comma; for this will help you&period;&&num;8221&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">The audio version started to pop up two weeks ago on jihadist websites and there is a video version which features people&rsquo&semi;s reactions to past terrorist attacks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;But Hamza bin Laden is not advocating his father&rsquo&semi;s style of jihad&period; Osama bin Laden was notorious for his ambitious&comma; carefully planned terrorist operations&comma; directed by al-Qaeda&rsquo&semi;s generals and aimed at strategic targets&period; His son&comma; by contrast&comma; urges followers to seize any opportunity to strike at Jewish interests&comma; Americans&comma; Europeans and pro-Western Muslims&comma; using whatever weapon happens to be available&comma;&rdquo&semi; writes <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">The Washington Post&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;Prepare diligently to inflict crippling losses on those who have disbelieved&comma;&rdquo&semi; says Hamza in the voiceover&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;The video drew attention from several terrorism experts on Twitter&period; Shiraz Maher&comma; the deputy director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization&comma;&nbsp&semi;noted&nbsp&semi;that Hamza seemed &&num;8220&semi;to be encouraging attacks with any tool possible &lpar;e&period;g&period;&comma; a vehicle&rpar;&comma; which his father had eschewed&period;&&num;8221&semi;&nbsp&semi;Katz wrote that&nbsp&semi;Hamza&&num;8217&semi;s speech was &&num;8220&semi;nonetheless another attempt by &lbrack;Al-Qaeda&rsqb; to win hearts &lbrack;and&rsqb; minds of jihadists&&num;8221&semi; amid competition with the Islamic State group &lpar;ISIS&rpar;&period; Al-Qaeda and ISIS&nbsp&semi;officially&nbsp&semi;split in 2014&comma; though&nbsp&semi;<em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">Newsweek&nbsp&semi;<&sol;em>reported&nbsp&semi;in April that rumors of an alliance have recently surfaced&comma;&rdquo&semi; writes <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">Newsweek&period;<&sol;em> &nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">Hamza&rsquo&semi;s desire for vengeance isn&rsquo&semi;t really a surprise&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">Ali Soufan&comma; an ex-FBI agent said on <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">60 Minutes <&sol;em>that the agency got a hold of letters discovered at bin Laden compound after he was killed in 2011 by U&period;S&period; Navy Seals&period; Allegedly&comma; one of these letters was written by Hamza were he promised to continue his father&rsquo&semi;s mission&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;Every look &hellip&semi; every smile you gave me&comma; every word you told me&period; I consider myself to be forged in steel&period; The path of jihad for the sake of God is what we live &lbrack;for&comma;&rsqb;&rdquo&semi; said the letter&comma; reported by <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">The Sun&period;<&sol;em><span style&equals;"mso-spacerun&colon; yes&semi;">&nbsp&semi; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;He was a poster kid for al-Qaeda &&num;8230&semi; and for members of al-Qaeda&comma; who were indoctrinated with these propaganda videos&comma; he means a lot to them&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Soufan on <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">60 Minutes&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">Then in 2015&comma; al-Qaeda released an audio recording with similar messaging encouraging attacks against the West&period; The terrorist group has release other recordings using Hamza&rsquo&semi;s voice too&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">In January of this year&comma; Hamza was classified as a specially designated global terrorist the U&period;S&period; State Department&comma; forbidding Americans form doing any business with him&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&&num;8220&semi;The imposition of sanctions by the United States against terrorists is a powerful tool&comma;&&num;8221&semi; wrote the U&period;S&period; State Department&period; &&num;8220&semi;Today&rsquo&semi;s action notifies the U&period;S&period; public and the international community that Hamza bin Laden is actively engaged in terrorism&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">However&comma; Hamza has kept most of his personals details private&period; There are no confirmed photographs of the terrorist&period; This means it will be hard for the terrorist group to make him into an icon&period; &nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;People loyal to al-Qaeda and against the Islamic State are looking for inspiration&comma; and they realize that he can provide it&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Steven Stalinsky&comma; executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute to <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">The Washington Post<&sol;em>&period; &ldquo&semi;But for today&rsquo&semi;s youth&comma; you need more than audio and an old photograph&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">Documents found at bin Laden&rsquo&semi;s compound also revealed that the 9&sol;11 architect had high hopes for Hamza and was preparing him for leadership&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;The documents reveal a special bond between Hamza bin Laden and his father that persisted despite long periods of separation&period; The 15th of Osama bin Laden&rsquo&semi;s estimated 20 children&comma; Hamza was the only son born to the terrorist&rsquo&semi;s third wife&comma; and by some accounts his favorite&comma; Khairiah Sabar&comma; a Saudi woman whose family traces its lineage to the prophet Muhammad&comma;&rdquo&semi; writes <em style&equals;"mso-bidi-font-style&colon; normal&semi;">The Washington Post&period;<&sol;em> &nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal">&ldquo&semi;Hamza is one of the mujahideen&comma; and he bears their thoughts and worries&comma;&rdquo&semi; wrote bin Laden in one letter&period; &ldquo&semi;And at the same time&comma; he can interact with the &lbrack;Muslim&rsqb; nation&period;&rdquo&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"MsoNormal"><strong>Author&rsquo&semi;s note&colon;<&sol;strong> Even though Hamza is trying to stay hidden&comma; it looks like he is already trying to live up to his father&rsquo&semi;s legacy&period; Al-Qaeda knows they need him and that he could be a powerful tool&period; By encouraging extremists to attack as lone wolves and with whatever means necessary&comma; makes Hamza even more brutal and radical&period;&nbsp&semi;This could be the start of a massive resurgence of al-Qaeda&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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