Osama's brigade marry off their women

LONDON, NOV. 4. In the first sign that they do not expect to survive the war, Osama bin Laden's bodyguards have begun marrying off their daughters and sisters to Afghan men.

The secret weddings took place last week in various suburbs and villages around Kandahar and involved hundreds of Arab women getting married to locals who agreed to look after them in return for large sums of money, The Sunday Telegraph reported today.

``The Arabs came at night bringing large numbers of women and suitcases of money,'' the newspaper quoted Mr. Abdul Razza, a teacher from Kandahar who witnessed some of the negotiations as saying. ``They asked that the people look after their womenfolk and protect them during the war. The fact that the Arabs feel they can no longer protect their women is the first sign that they believe the war is not going their way,'' the report quoted a Western diplomat as saying.

The women were completely covered but Mr. Razza believes some were as young as 12 and that they brought their mothers with them. Local priests carried out the marriage ceremonies.

About 2,000 Arabs from Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and the UAE, among other countries, lived in Kandahar before the war but fled last month before the start of the U.S. bombing campaign.

Some managed to escape but many are thought to be in Uruzgan, a mountainous province with a network of caves that is the home province of Mullah Omar, Taliban's spiritual leader.

According to Mr. Razza, however, there was no shortage of men agreeing to take the Arab women as wives. ``Normally we have to pay for women so they were happy to get brides who came with their own money, particularly at the moment with so many shortages and high prices for food and fuel. They also believe it is their Islamic duty to protect these guests.''

Many of the Arabs marrying off their women are believed to be from Osama's elite 055 brigade, a crack squad of 500 Arabs set up five years ago, who have vowed to fight to death.

- PTI

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