“A self-described chef for Osama bin Laden, who has been captured by tribesmen here, says that his boss – after leaving Afghanistan for Pakistan – has since traveled into Iran.

“In three separate interviews here in Ghazni, Haji Mohamad Akram, a waif of a man suffering from the results of regular torture sessions by his captors, provided detailed accounts of the battle at Tora Bora, of Mr. bin Laden’s movements in November and December last year — and of his favorite dishes,” The Christian Science Monitor reports.

‘Osama’s favorite meal is fowl – anything with wings,’ says the Saudi national. ‘He likes quails, and if he can’t get his hands on one, he will settle for a chicken. Most of the quails he ate, we hunted. Others were brought in by road from Iran. Osama often made special requests for the mutton and yogurt Mogul dish that I do best.’

[…]Akram, unlike many Al Qaeda captives who stick to the network’s code of silence, blasts bin Laden for betraying the cause of the ‘jihad,’ or holy war. He also expresses remorse at what he had been doing, insisting that he was misled from the beginning.

[…]He goes on to criticize bin Laden – although he mentions that bin Laden once sent him to Detroit, Mich., for medical treatment – and expresses hope that the US will do better by Afghanistan than bin Laden did. ‘One mistake that Osama made is that he only bought pickup trucks for the Taliban, and provided some rupees for their front lines. He was never seriously interested in the welfare of the Afghan people. Now that Al Qaeda is gone, the US should help the Afghans, the poor have suffered too much.’

I still think Usama’s pulp on a rock somewhere, but there’s something pleasing about the Iran/chicken connection…

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