My son innocent of September 11 attacks: Bin Laden's mother
( 2001-12-23 14:30 ) (7 )

The mother of prime terror suspect Osama bin Laden said her son was innocent of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, in an interview with a British newspaper on Sunday.

"I don't believe that he did the terrible deeds they say he did. I believe the evidence against him is not solid," she told The Mail on Sunday.

Khalid Batarfi, Saudi journalist and close friend of the bin Ladens, secured a world exclusive interview with Alia Ghanem, the Syrian-born fourth wife of Mohammmed bin Laden, the paper said.

Ghanem told the weekly that a video tape recently released by Washington in which bin Laden is seen boasting of the attacks on New York and Washington had been tampered with.

"I think the video they produced is doctored. Osama is too good a Muslim and too good a person to say or do what the script of the video suggests he said and did."

She added: "I pray to Allah that he will live until the truth is revealed and the real criminals are found."

Ghanem said she felt "frustrated" at false media reports in the wake of September 11, including one which said bin Laden called her days before the terror assaults to say he could no longer phone her.

She said he had not phoned her for six years since finding out the Americans were monitoring his calls.

Neither was it true she had disavowed him, Ghanem said.

Bin Laden had "always been a good son" to her, she added, even though she did not agree with everything he said.

Asked why her son had a hatred for the West, she replied that bin Laden felt it supported all the enemies of Islam and Muslim nations in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines, Bosnia and Iraq.

She added that he believes European colonisation of the Muslim world is the reason behind much of the "backwardness and weakness" expressed by Muslims today.

Ghanem gave an insight into her son's early years, saying bin Laden was "shy," "very considerate" and "loved and respected by his classmates and neighbours."

She said he became politically aware in his early teens.

"He was frustrated about the situation in Palestine in particular, and the Arab and Muslim world in general. He wanted Muslims to unite and fight to liberate Palestine."

At the same time he played football, went to picnics, rode horses and socialised, she said.

The bin Laden family, which runs a construction empire and is based in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, has condemned the September 11 attacks.