Thaindian News

Apr 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A Facebook account whose profile was supposed to be that of Osama Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda terrorist, attracted over 1000 fans. It was covered with postings of Bim Laden’s speeches, and recordings of Islamic extremists groups which had been produced by the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Sahab Media Group.

The page was created on March 25, and named Osama as “The Prince of Mujahideen”. His location was said to be “the mountains of the world.” The was reported by the Arabic language news site Elaph. Osama Bin Laden is though to be hiding in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Facebook was urged by a security expert to close the page down. “Bin Laden, via his supporters, is clearly taunting his pursuers,” Internet terror expert and author Neil Doyle said. Although the page was mostly in Arabic, messages in English had began to be posted there. Although the page was later stated to be a fake, and not from Obama himself, it is unclear whether or not it was created by close supporters the terrorist leader, or by supporters which were in other parts of the world.

On his blog, Doyle added that the site contained many images, video clips of Bin Laden, and parts of films which had previously been distributed by terrorists groups worldwide. In one clip was a group of al Qaeda fighters being trained in Afganistan, which was produced by the group’s official media arm As Sahab Media. Another short filmed showed Bin Laden giving a speech to his followers just before the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

According to a statement from Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes,

“People often attempt to register fake accounts under the name of famous or infamous people, and we have a number of technical measures designed to prevent this behavior, sometimes these fakes do get through but there is no evidence to suggest that the account in question or the other dozens of people who have tried to present themselves as Osama Bin Laden have any relation to the terrorist. As is our standard practice, we have disabled the account.”

If it had indeed been the work of Osama Bin Laden himself, it would not have been the first time a fugitive had used Facebook speak to the world. In late 2009, Craig Lynch, 28, had escaped from Hollesley Bay prison near Suffolk, in Eastern England. He continued to post updates to his Facebook page such as “mmm i just had a 12lb venison steak. Roasted veg and chips, bangin meal. I feel stuffed but still got room for the j.d’s . Hope you enjoyed the meal babe’s. We’ll have to eat here again” Lynch wrote on his wall.

Later he added ,”well what can i say fellow friends. The run is nearly over. Sorry some of you had to find out like this. I know some of you might take offence that i never told you personally. But you know me. I Trust No One. Its the only way to be.”

Under personal information he put, “You’ll have a laugh with me but it will end in tears. It always does.” He was captured on Jan 13, 2010.