Osama Bin Laden 's son says his terrorist mastermind father was training him to follow in his footsteps - and even made him fire AK47s as a child.
Now aged 41, Omar Bin Laden says his childhood in the mysterious Tora Bora cave complex was one of strife - and believes he is "another victim" of the 9/11 warlord.
Speaking to The Sun this week, he revealed one of his most harrowing memories from his youth was discovering that his dogs had been used to test chemical weapons.
Recalling how he watched his father and his followers use the deadly equipment on his pets, Omar told the newspaper: “They tried it on my dogs and I wasn’t happy.
“I just try to forget all the bad times as much as I can. It’s very difficult. You suffer all the time.”
Omar said he was also taken into Bin Laden's terrorist training camps and taught how to use an AK47 rifle as well as drive a Russian tank, with his father seemingly keen to bring him up as his successor.
But when he was old enough he instead made the brave decision to say "goodbye" and turn away from a life of terror, a decision which angered his dad.
"I’d had enough of that world. He wasn’t happy that I was leaving", he said.
By the time of the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001 he had already disowned his father, and felt little in the way of sadness when he was finally killed by US forces in almost a decade later.
Despite this, he admits he still would've preferred for the family to have been given a funeral - and even doubts the official narrative of a burial at sea, saying he thinks they "took his body to America, for people to see.”
Omar also learnt of the death of his brother Khalid after recognising pictures of him posted on the internet following the raid.
But while he hoped the end of Bin Laden would too bring to a close the constant ill-will he received from strangers, this was not to be - as he says people "still judge me today.”
Omar suffers from PTSD, according to his 67-year-old British wife Zaina, who believes it was brought on by 9/11.
Having seen multiple therapists and been prescribed medication, he shared that he has found solace by taking to painting in his adult life, with his works reported to sell for up to £8,500 a piece.
Omar's favourite subject to paint is mountains - something that comes from his five years living in Afghanistan, and he says they give him a "safe feeling, like I’m untouchable.”
He today lives a mostly normal life with Zaina, and despite the occasional issue - such as his instant deportation from the UK upon arrival by ferry in Portsmouth in 2020 - finds himself free to do other things, such as going to watch the Netherlands vs Qatar game in the World Cup earlier this week.
After his surprising candour in his latest interview, perhaps the best rumination on his forever tortured relationship with his father's name and legacy still comes from his wife, who once said: “Omar loves and hates Osama at the same time. He loves him because he is his father but hates what he has done.”
