Osama's son Hamza urges youth to overthrow Saudi rulers

Terrorism-monitoring company Site Intelligence Group (Site) has said that Hamza bin Laden, the son of al-Qaida’s slain founder Osama bin Laden, has urged Saudis to overthrow the kingdom’s rulers to free themselves from the influence of the U.S.

According to Site, Hamza in an undated audio message has urged the Saudi youth to join the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqap) to gain the necessary experience to fight, reports the Guardian. Reports suggest that Aqap was formed in January 2009 as a



merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of al-Qaida.

According to the US intelligence officials, 23-year-old Hamza was the favourite son of the 9/11 mastermind, who had been grooming him to take over as al-Qaida’s leader. Saudi authorities had in 1994 stripped Osama of his nationality after he issued fatwas or Islamic religious pronouncements denouncing both the royal family and the US.

He was killed in Pakistan in 2011 by an elite team of the US Navy Seals after a decade on the run.