A London-based magazine said yesterday it was publishing a will written by Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, in which he complains of betrayal by fellow militants in Afghanistan.
The Arabic-language al-Majallah said the will, typed and signed by bin Laden and dated December 14, 2001, was obtained a week ago from a "very reliable" source in Afghanistan.
It said the will, typically packed with verses from the Muslim holy book the Koran, depicted a man who appeared desperate and on the verge of death.
"Reading it, you get the impression of a dying man. It may be that he was wounded and felt he was dying," Majallah Editor-in-Chief Hani Nakshabandi told Reuters of the will, which is due to be published on Saturday.
The date on the will suggested it was written at the height of US military strikes on Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11 attacks, which ended in the ouster of bin Laden's Taliban protectors from Afghanistan.
There was no independent confirmation of the authenticity of the document.
Nakshabandi said while wills are normally revealed after the death of their author, it was impossible to verify if bin Laden had actually died.
The Saudi-born militant, Washington's prime suspect as mastermind for September 11, disappeared after US troops launched its war on Afghanistan in October 2001. US troops combing the mountains where he was believed to be hiding have failed to find him.
But some television stations and Web sites close to his al Qaeda network have published letters attributed to him or messages in his voice, although the dates of these messages was not verified.
In the will, bin Laden repeatedly complains of betrayal by fellow militants, including the Taliban who shielded him.
"We saw the cowardly Crusaders (Christians) and the lowly Jews hold fast while fighting us, while soldiers of our nation raised the white flag and surrendered to their enemies," bin Laden wrote in the will, studded.
"Even the students of religion (Taliban), only a handful of them were steadfast, while the rest fled before they met the enemy," it adds.
Bin Laden also asks for forgiveness from his children, saying he had given them only a little of his time since he embarked on his path of jihad (holy war).
"I have chosen a path filled with dangers and endured much hardships...treachery and betrayal," he wrote. "If it wasn't for betrayal, conditions would have been different and the outcome would have been a different one."
Urging his children to remain faithful to God, he advises them "not to work for al Qaeda", without giving an explanation.
But he said his advice was based on an example set by prominent early Muslim leader, Omar bin al-Khattab, who urged his son to shun the post after him.
Bin Laden described the New York and Washington attacks as "part of escalating strikes directed towards America" starting with a 1983 attack on a US marine barracks in Lebanon and the 1998 bombing of two US embassies in Africa.
The United States has blamed bin Laden for the twin attacks on its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. But it has accused Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizbollah group for the suicide attack on its barracks in Beirut in which 241 servicemen were killed.