Les relacions tenses entre el mul·là Omar i Bin Laden

L'últim número del CTC Sentinel (PDF) publica uns extractes de les memòries d'Abu'l-Walid al-Masri, desertor d'al-Qaida i autor prolífic, que contradiuen la història segons la qual al-Qaida preparava les seves operacions anti-U.S.A. a l'Afganistan amb la connivència del mul·là Omar. Al-Masri explica com Bin Laden es va mostrar reluctant a l'hora de jurar lleialtat al mul·là, amb una sèrie d'excuses. Quan se li van acabar les excuses, va fer el jurament mitjançant un intermediari, cosa que és d'una legalitat dubtosa.

Segons aquestes memòries, el mul·là Omar havia ordenat a Bin Laden que cessés les seves operacions contra els Estats Units d'Amèrica i que desistís de fer declaracions als mitjans de comunicació. Tot i això, l'àrab el va desobeir reïteradament:

Abu Abdullah...continued to disobey the basic instructions of the Commander of the Faithful, which could be summarized under two headings. First was to halt all interviews, for either print or television media. Second was the prohibition on any military strike against the United States, as Pakistan had threatened to intervene directly against the Taliban in the event of such a strike. The Taliban could not bear up under such an intervention so long as it remained unable to control the remaining territory held by the northern resistance.

Les relacions es van mantenir tenses, fins a l'extrem que els talibans van fer tancar uns camps d'entrenament d'al-Qaida. A principis del 2000, Bin Laden es va disculpar personalment al mul·là. Ara bé, segons diu al-Masri, això no era res més que una estràtegia de Bin Laden per guanyar temps mentre acabava de planejar en secret l'operació de l'11 de setembre de 2001:

But it appears that Abu Abdullah was already at an advanced stage of preparation for the attack of September 2001, about which no one knew any details save for three individuals, one of which was Abu Abdullah himself 36 ... Nobody outside the first or second inner circle had any idea of what was going on. Of course, Mullah Omar topped the list of those kept in the dark, though it was on his head that all of the catastrophic consequences of that strike would fall, as his regime collapsed along with the Twin Towers of New York. Naturally, I was also on that list of the un-informed. Had I known, I would never have pushed with all my strength to bring about the bay`a of Abu Abdullah to Mullah Omar, since it turned out to have been an outright deception of the Commander of the Faithful, diverting his attention from a dangerous act, plotted behind his back, that undermined his fundamental prerogatives as ruler of the country and threatened the lives and fates of all Afghans.