Hunting al-Qaida: Is Bin Laden soul-searching or just changing tactics?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The shift in attitude from Osama bin Laden probably reflects a desire to "clean up" an image that was becoming increasinly tainted in the Muslim world\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/10\/is_bin_laden_soul_searching_or_just_changing_tactics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hunting al-Qaida: Is Bin Laden soul-searching or just changing tactics?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The shift in attitude from Osama bin Laden probably reflects a desire to "clean up" an image that was becoming increasinly tainted in the Muslim world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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I\u2019m Osama bin Laden and I approved this message<\/div>\n

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This week, Osama bin Laden\u2019s brother Yeslam launched a perfume<\/a> in Paris that he had developed a few years ago, but held off on releasing due to the antics of his younger, more infamous brother. \u201cI expect people out of curiosity will try it,\u201d said the Geneva-based Yeslam, \u201cand they will find the smell out of this world.\u201d The timing of Yeslam\u2019s perfume launch was overshadowed, however, by a videotaped speech by Osama that had a dose of perfume of its own. Sober, unarmed, and without the Islamic rhetoric<\/a> that powered previous speeches, bin Laden almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself of the reasons why he committed the acts of 9\/11, even as he directly admitted his involvement for the first time (finally \u2013 would you conspiracy theorists please go away?). Some think that bin Laden is vying for attention<\/a> after being discredited in much of the Muslim world, which has had enough of attacks in Islamic countries done in al-Qaida\u2019s name. \u201cPart of what bin Laden is trying to do is fill the vacuum of leadership in the Muslim world,\u201d says Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the RAND Corporation. \u201cPart of his game is to portray himself as a statesman.\u201d The trouble is, the \u201cnew\u201d bin Laden might attract new followers who buy into his new tone (indeed, 65% of Pakistanis had a favorable<\/a> view of the man even before the latest statement). He is apparently feeling safe enough to send envoys to Gulf states looking for donations<\/a> for his cause. bin Laden\u2019s \u201cgood cop\u201d speech was balanced by a ranting \u201cbad cop\u201d video made by someone calling himself \u201cAzzam the American\u201d \u2013 widely believed to be Adam Gadahn\/Pearleman, a convert to Islam who slugged<\/a> the imam at his mosque for opposing his extremism. Osama bin Laden\u2019s discarding of Islamic justification in his speech coincided with an effort by Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries who signed a petition<\/a> to the United Nations calling for an international treaty to ban the use of religion for incitement to violence. \u201cThere are individuals in the Muslim world who pose as clerics and issue death sentences against those they disagree with,\u201d says Shakir Al-Nablusi, a Jordanian academic and one of the signatories. \u201cThese individuals give Islam a bad name and foster hatred among civilizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

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