WASHINGTON, Dec 5: Osama bin Laden may have visited the United States as a young man, long before declaring jihad against America and its allies, the New Yorker magazine reported in its latest edition. The weekly reported that according a longtime acquaintance from his native Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden made at least one trip to the United States, probably in 1978, with his wife and oldest son, who needed medical treatment.

The friend Khaled Batarfi, a Saudi journalist who lived down the street from Osama in the 1970’s, told the magazine that one aspect of his trip that made a strong impression on Osama was the stares by airline passengers at his wife, an observant Muslim who was dressed in a draping gown and full head covering — attire unfamiliar to many Americans at the time. Some passengers even went so far as to snap pictures, Batarfi told the New Yorker, adding that when Osama returned to Jeddah, he told people that the experience was like ‘being in a show’.—AFP