Letters seized from Osama Bin Laden's Pakistani hideout expose the Al Qaeda leader's frustration with his jihadi "brothers" and his inability to control their "incompetence."
Bin Laden's correspondance reveals him battling in vain to control a disorganised network of jihadi groups, not "the puppet master" of jihadi groups as was previously thought, reports Reuters.
Bin Laden is seen as a weakened leader, trying desperately to reclaim support for those who had lost trust in Al Qaeda. Bin Laden conveys his pain at domestic attacks that caused Muslim civilian casualties, urging disparate Al Qaeda groups to focus on the United States, “our desired goal.”
"In doing so, we shall reclaim, God willing, the trust of a large segment of those who lost their trust in the jihadis," Bin Laden writes in a letter from 2010, reports the BBC.
The contrast between Bin Laden's private thoughts and his public statements is stressed by analysts from the U.S. Army's Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) who published the documents, under the title 'Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined?'.
The 17 documents, released in a US election year, have been dismissed as a political move by some. It is in America's interest to reveal Osama Bin Laden in such a light, claims the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner.
The documents reveal that despite Somali based al Shabab's pledge of allegiance to Al Qaeda, Bin Laden was dispassionate about registering their support, believing them to be too strict in enforcing Sharia law, reports news agency AP.
A collection of 75 pages in the original Arabic and 197 pages in the English translation, were published. They can be downloaded here.
British terrorism expert Sajan Gohel told BBC news that the release of these 17 documents was important in showing how Al Qaeda operates in Pakistan, within a network of terrorist groups.
He told BBC news that more documents may end up circulating on the internet, and some may be leaked.
Osama Bin Laden evaded American forces for ten years after 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center – his hiding skill became a decade-long-joke.
One year ago on 5 April Osama bin Laden was shot dead by US Navy Seals during a raid on his home in Abbottbad Pakistan. There a still a number of unanswered questions that hover over the death of the man that evaded capture for so long.