Thaindian News

Washington, May 14 (IANS) Captured files from the US raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan include recent references to targeting the US president although they do not mention Barack Obama by name, according to US media reports.

In reporting about bin Laden files Friday, CBS gave no details noting that there was a growing concern by military officials about the flood of information that has come out about the US raid and the secretive Navy SEAL team that killed world’s most wanted terrorist in Abbottabad May 2.

However, CNN cited an unnamed US official as saying that “among the seized materials were written communications from bin Laden expressing his desire to see US President Barack Obama assassinated.” But it too gave no details.

Also seized was an unreleased audio message from bin Laden, produced in late April, days before his death, in which he talks in support of the so-called “Arab Spring.”

FoxNews.com cited US officials as describing the message as “odd in several ways … it seems bin Laden is trying to prove that Al Qaeda is still relevant in these historic uprisings. He is trying to insert himself into these historic events and the news cycle when he hasn’t been part of it.”

Bin Laden mentioned the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisa but not the revolt in Yemen or the violent conflict in Libya - evidence that the terror leader was cut off from current events, US officials say.

The tape is part of the largest intelligence collected, including bin Laden’s diary, videos and computers from the house where the Al Qaeda leader is believed to have lived for six years, they say.