$1m REWARD TO BAG JIHADI SUPERSTAR
America puts huge price on Hamza’s head as he bids to make al-Qaeda the world’s most feared terror group again
WHEN SEAL Team 6 evacuated osama bin Laden’s Pakistani hideout, not only had they killed the al-Qaeda warlord, they unknowingly took out his son too.
Four others were shot dead, including the heir to the terror boss’s crown in the firefight inside the Abbottabad compound.
US authorities later said one of the slain men was Bin Laden’s son Hamza, whom paperwork inside the bolthole showed was being groomed to take over.
Included in the trove of documents were letters between the then 22-yearold and his father, as well as written orders from the terror lord to his commanders on how Hamza was to be educated and provided for.
The celebration of the Bin Laden deaths was, however, short-lived.
For today, eight years after the completion of Operation Neptune Spear, while Osama bin Laden remains buried at sea, the “Crown Prince of Jihad” is very much alive.
Although invisible like his father, it hasn’t stopped Hamza’s rise to terrorist superstar hellbent on recapturing al-Qaeda position as the world’s most dangerous extremists.
He is driven, not only by his desire to avenge his father’s killing but also that of his 12-year-old son, whom he has told family died a “martyr”, possibly in an airstrike or fighting.
While in hiding, Hamza has urged his followers to wage war on London, Washington, Paris and Tel Aviv – while rising to become al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s deputy.
Experts fear it is only a matter of when, not if, the 30-year-old takes control of the group.
Hamza has tapped into how jihadists have become disillusioned with the uncharismatic governor and defected to Isis.
Now, America has offered a $1million reward for information leading to his capture – making him one of the world’s most wanted men.
The US State Department said: “Hamza bin Laden is emerging as a leader in the AQ franchise.
“He has released messages calling on his followers to launch attacks against the US and its allies, and he has threatened attacks against the US in revenge for the May 2011 killing of his father by US service members.”
Now there is a global hunt for the warlord, with his location the subject of speculation as reports of him in Pakistan, Afghanistan or under house arrest in Iran remain unconfirmed.
Last August, it was revealed Hamza married the daughter of Mohammed Atta, the lead hijacker in the 9/11 attacks that left 2996 people dead.
Hamza’s family confirmed the marriage and also that he had taken up a senior position in al-Qaeda to avenge the death of his father.
He is the son of one of Bin Laden’s three surviving wives, Khairiah Sabar, who was living with her husband in Abbottabad when he was killed.
Hamza insists on keeping most of his details hidden from public view. Few confirmed photos exist of the terrorist since his childhood.
His opposition to letting his picture be printed is based on his desire not to meet the fate of his father but this also hinders his climb to terror icon.
Steven Stalinsky, of the Middle East Media Research Institute, said: “People loyal to al-Qaeda are looking for inspiration but for today’s youth you need more than audio and an old photo.”
Hamza was first seen in jihadist propaganda in November 2001, when he appeared in a video uploaded to an al-Qaeda-affiliated website. In the footage, Hamza reads a poem praising one-eyed Afghan mujahideen chief Mullah Omar. Four years later, he appeared in a video in which he fought against Pakistani soldiers.
In 2008, Hamza appeared in another video with his father calling on disaffected teenagers to form jihadist cells to “accelerate the destruction” of countries that opposed their views.
But his most chilling appearances come from behind the microphone.
None more so than two weeks before the Manchester bombing in 2017, when he called for attacks on European and American cities to avenge the deaths of Syrian children in airstrikes.
It was as though Osama bin Laden was speaking himself as Hamza urged his followers to “to inflict crippling losses on those who have disbelieved”.
Hamza has called on followers to launch attacks on the US US STATE DEPARTMENT