Porn found in bin Laden hideout, officials say
NBC News and news services
updated 5/13/2011 4:53:51 PM ET 2011-05-13T20:53:51
WASHINGTON — A stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him, current and former U.S. officials said on Friday.
The pornography recovered in bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The officials said they were not yet sure precisely where in the compound the pornography was discovered or who had been viewing it. Specifically, the officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials.
Reports from Abbottabad have said that bin Laden's compound was cut off from the Internet or other hard-wired communications networks. It is unclear how compound residents would have acquired the pornography.
But a video released by the Obama administration confiscated from the compound showed bin Laden watching pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating that the compound was equipped with video playback equipment.
Thumb drives
Materials carted away from the compound by the U.S. commandos included digital thumb drives, which U.S. officials believe may have been a principal means by which couriers carried electronic messages to and from the late al-Qaida leader.
Three other U.S. officials familiar with evidence gathered during investigations of other Islamic militants said the discovery of pornography is not uncommon in such cases.
The U.S. has found so much pornography in the possession of al-Qaida operatives during previous raids that it spurred investigations into whether porn photos were being used to send coded messages, a former U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News.
At one point, U.S. officials had pursued a probe into whether al-Qaida was using special software that would allow the email transmission of porn photos implanted with hidden messages that could be deciphered by recipients with the right code. "We thought this was the way that messages were being transmitted," said the official.
The official commented about the al-Qaida use of porn in the wake of the Reuters report of porn found in bin Laden's compound. A U.S. official has confirmed the report to NBC News, but emphasized that U.S. officials have no way of knowing who in the compound the material belonged to.
Conjures up some interesting movie titles. Three Men and a Camel, Behind the Tent Door and Nights of a Thousand Burqas.
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