Egyptian journalist remembersBin Laden's glory days
By Michel Sailhan
CAIRO, (AFP) - Journalist and film producerEssam Deraz, who says he spent several months by the side of Osamabin Laden between 1987 and 1992, describes the Islamist militantas a "courageous fighter" who did not hesitate to enterthe front lines.
Egyptianindependent journalist and film producer Essam Deraz poses inhis Cairo apartment 25 August 2002 as he displays a picture showinghimself (R) with prime terror suspect Osama Bin Laden, taken atan unspecified location in Afghanistan in the late 1980s. Derazsays he spent several months by Bin Laden's side between 1987and 1992, describing the Saudi billionaire dissident as a 'modest'person and a 'courageous fighter' who did not hesitate to enterthe front lines. AFPPHOTO/Marwan NAAMANI
"He was a courageous fighter, who directedreconnaissance operations," said the 56-year old independentjournalist, displaying in his Cairo apartment photographs of himselfin the company of bin Laden, the Saudi billionaire whom the UnitedStates holds responsible for last year's September 11 terroristattacks.
"In 1988 and 1989, in Jalalabad, inAfghanistan, he was at the head of a group of fighters... Oneday, we went together to do reconnaissance of the outskirts ofJalalabad airport. You could see the Russian troops," EssamDeraz says.
"Another time in the same region, wewere together in a jeep that he drove, and men distributed munitionsin different places. We were very close to the Soviet forces,"added the former Egyptian army captain, who produced several filmson the Afghan resistance.
"He was in good health, but had veryweak blood pressure. Ayman al-Zawahri (the Egyptian doctor whobecame bin Laden's right-hand man) examined him every two or threedays."
Deraz, who affirmed having spent severalmonths with bin Laden in the course of some twenty visits, emphasizesthe "modesty" of the United States's most wanted man.
"He did not consider himself differentfrom the others, and we shared the same aluminum mess tin. Hedid not raise his voice with the men and had the traditional attitudeof the Arabs towards welcoming visitors, taking great care ofthem."
As far as Deraz is concerned, "BinLaden was never an agent of the CIA, or someone placed in Afghanistanby the Americans, as many in the media have claimed.
"He did not need to be the agent ofa country or of an intelligence service. He was very rich anddid not need to sell himself," Deraz adds, placing on thetable a collection of snapshots of Afghan fighters.
"He went to Afghanistan out of conviction,as Islam teaches, to defend the oppressed."
According to the Egyptian journalist, whosays he witnessed the Islamist's first public denunciation ofthe United States in a Saudi mosque in 1990, "Bin Laden iscertainly dead today," as "the majority of his bodyguardshave died or been taken prisoner" by US-led forces.
CNN reached the same conclusion at the endof July, reporting that some US officials had concluded that thepresence of some of bin Laden's bodyguards among the prisonersheld by the United States in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, suggested thatthe al-Qaeda leader was probably dead.
The meeting with Deraz took place beforean Islamist Web site posted a letter Sunday attributed to binLaden calling on the Afghan people to wage jihad against US forces.
Deraz met bin Laden for the first time "witha friend as intermediary" in Medina, Saudi Arabia in 1987,before meeting him again the same year in Peshawar, Pakistan,and next in Afghanistan.