A daily exclusively reports the impacts of militancy and the problems of displaced people

SPECIAL STORY

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            New Delhi :A new book, Growing Up bin Laden, co-authored by Osama's first wife Najwa and their son Omar, has revealed how on one night in Sudan, the al-Qaeda leader suddenly decided to take his family - four wives, 14 kids - on a camping trip.
            According to the book, Osama drove into the desert, found an isolated spot, then had his oldest sons dug ditches in the sand, long enough to fit each person "as he believed that was a training for an upcoming war coming between Muslims and the Western infidels", as reported.
            "You must be gallant. Do not think about foxes or snakes," he says. "Challenging trials are coming to us." Each child, including a few 1- and 2-year-olds, lies in a hollow. There is no water or food.
say.            As night falls, a child's voice whispers in the darkness, "I'm cold." "Cover yourself with dirt or grass," bin Laden snaps. "You will be warm under what nature provides."
            Osama's first wife, Najwa, didn't like that idea, but, "I reminded myself that my husband knew much more about the big world than any of us. We were all pearls to my husband and he wanted to protect us."
            51-year-old Najwa remains married to Osama, though she now lives apart from him in an undisclosed Middle Eastern location with her fourth son - of 11 kids - Omar. However, in the book, she has neither defended nor lashed out at Osama. "Terrorism is what he does for a living; all she needed to worry about was keeping his house in order," she said in the book.
            She met her first cousin Osama, the 9-year-old son of her father's sister, when she was just 7. "He was such a serious, conscientious boy. He was proud, but not arrogant. He was delicate, but not weak. He was grave, but not severe."
            ""I was not always the wife of Osama bin Laden. Once I was an innocent child dreaming little girl dreams..."
            "Thus begins this powerful story as mother and son give us an extra ordinary view--complete with exclusive family photographs--of the private life of a man both loved and feared by his family: Osama's disapproval of modern conveniences, including elec tricity and medicine; Osama toughening up his sons by taking them into the desert without food or water; Osama moving his wives and children from a orderly life to one of extreme uncertainty. In 1996, Osama chose the 15-year-old Omar to accompany him to the mountain fortress of Tora Bora, where the risks of hunger and disease soon paled before the dangers of the terrorist camps. With unprecedented access and insight, bestselling author Jean Sasson takes us inside the secret world of Osama bin Laden.
            Jean Sasson has contributed to Growing Up Bin Laden: The Private World of Osama Bin Laden: A Personal Account by His Wife and Son as an author. JEAN SASSON, a writer and lecturer, is the author of seven books, five of which are international bestsellers; two of them, "Princess: A True Story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia" and "The Rape of Kuwait," are "New York Times" bestsellers. She has appeared on "Oprah," the "Today" show, "48 Hours," CNN, and NPR. She is currently living in the Middle East.