Osama Gassed My Dogs, Says Estranged Son

"Growing Up Bin Laden" coming to a bookstore near you

By SCOTT ROSS
Updated 10:16 AM EST, Fri, Jul 10, 2009

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Osama bin Laden gassed his son Omar's puppies in the name of jihad, according to a shocking new autobiography due out later this year.

The younger bin Laden, now 28, recalls sobbing when his evil father told him he needed the dogs to test his newest chemical weapons.

"After I learned the truth about the puppies, I turned even further away from my father," writes the young Saudi in his book, "Growing Up Bin Laden," according to the New York Daily News.

In 2002, CNN obtained video tape that showed the elder mastermind testing nerve agents on fully grown dogs at his Derunta camp in Afghanistan.

The book, co-written by Omar's mother, Najwa -- Osama's first wife -- also confirms that bin Laden was tipped off to a 1998 U.S. assassination attempt, narrowly escaping the bombing of his Afghan camp by two hours.

In discussing the upcoming book last week, Najwa revealed that Osama and his family visited the States as tourists in 1979, before he had dedicated his life to toppling the country.

"I came to believe that Americans were gentle and nice, people easy to deal with," she said. "As far as the country itself goes, my husband and I did not hate America, yet we did not love it."

The one negative, she recalled, was when Osama stared down an American man for gawking at his wife's Saudi garb as they awaited their flight home.

Still, she wasn't offended and neither was he.

"That man gave us a good laugh," she said, "as it was clear he had no knowledge of veiled women."

First Published: Jul 10, 2009 6:20 AM EST

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