Several years after his father Osama Bin Laden was hunted down at Pakistan’s Abbotabad and neutralized , the Crown Prince of Jihad Hamza Bin Laden is back in the news.
The growing buzz around the young turk is that he could very well take over the reins of the Al Qaeda as the heir apparent.
In a recent photo message published by Al-Qaeda to mark 16 years of 9/11 the face of Osama bin Laden is shown in the flames of the Twin Towers.
At his side is his son Hamza, the “crown prince of jihad”.
The young man, now 28, has been very visible in the propaganda network founded by his father.
Analysts quoted by international news outlets reveal he might try to unify jihadists around the world, taking advantage of the military weakness of the ISIS.
In a report published by the Combating Terrorism Center, former FBI special agent and Al-Qaeda specialist Ali Soufan writes: In his late 20s, Hamza is being prepared for a leadership role in the organisation his father founded.
As member of the bin Laden dynasty, Hamza is perceived favourably by the jihadi rank-and-file.
Reportedly those in the know believe Hamza is a figure best placed to reunify the global jihadi movement.
Hamza who has been groomed to follow his father’s footsteps is the 15th of bin Laden’s 20 children.
Trained in handling weapons he is seen in multiple videos ranting in his thin voice against Americans, Jews and “Crusaders” in videos online.
The eve of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was the last time Hamza saw his father.
His whereabouts now are unknown.
This even though reports suggest that via secret messengers father and son were in contact through letters. Some letters were found during the raid that killed the terrorist in Abbottabad, in Pakistan.
Hamza assures his father in one letter that he is “forged in steel” and ready “for victory or martyrdom”.
In an audio message in August 2015, Hamza asks jihadists around the world to strike from Kabul to Baghdad, from Gaza to Washington, London, Paris and Tel Aviv.
Interestingly ten days before the bombing in Manchester, Hamza’s voice was heard on a new audio tape.
Quotes in recent media reports are of divergent views, one section says that time is nigh for Bin Laden’s son to take over, while the others doubt Hamza has the experience or the ability.
At the global level analysts widely believe that the two power centres in Al Qaeda are now around Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who leads the affiliate in Syria, and Saif al-Adel, a 55-year-old survivor of the first generation of Islamic militants indicted for his role in bombing of US embassies in east Africa in 1998.
Al-Adel and ai-Golani are both working closely to establish a durable presence of al-Qaida in Syria.
The formal leader of the group since the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 is Ayman al-Zawahiri, a 65-year-old.
Hamza currently reported to be in Pakistan is married with three children: a son called Osama, a daughter Khairiah and a new baby. All are believed to be in Iran.
International media calls Hamza a violent, seasoned jihadist known as ” the Crown Prince of Terror.”
He is the only son of his father’s favourite wife Khairiah Sabar, who was known as Umm Hamza.
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