Osama bin Laden found in Colombia, sort of.

There's a dude named Fernando Aguirre in Bogota, Colombia, who runs around claiming he's Osama Bin Laden's son.

[He] patrols the most dangerous slums of Bogota and lives from the contributions received from those seeking his protection. Aguirre informs police on petty crimes being committed and is allowed by authorities to brandish his fake rifle.

Link. Image: REUTERS/Daniel Munoz. (via R Stevens' tweets).

[#1 posted by Wareq , January 30, 2008 2:03 PM]

Seems a bit like Emperor Norton.

[#2 posted by noen , January 30, 2008 2:13 PM]

In other words the man is harmless and the Columians seem to have a solution that works for all involved (unless there is more to the story). In America he would be denied treatment and thrown in jail among hard core criminals. That is why we are so superior.

[#3 posted by mujadaddy , January 30, 2008 2:25 PM]

That's gorgeous.

[#4 posted by Takuan , January 30, 2008 2:54 PM]

I guarantee he is not on the no-fly list

[#5 posted by Antinous , January 30, 2008 4:05 PM]

Osama bin Laden's other son (probably maybe), Omar, has been making the news lately. Here's an interview with the 26 year old, be-dreadlocked Omar and his 52 year old British wife Zaina (nee Jane Felix-Browne). He wants to be an ambassador of peace between the West and Al Qaeda, I hope that he succeeds, but the video is cringerific. There are more pics of them at the link from Xeni's post, but they're quite a way into the slideshow.

[#6 posted by Christopher Kirk , January 30, 2008 4:48 PM]

I live in Bogota. If (or when, really) I find this guy, anybody have any questions they want to ask?

In some areas of the city where police presence isn't quite what one would hope for, groups of neighbors will informally band together and hire a security guard. The guard will patrol the 'hood from 6PM to 6AM, blowing a whistle every several minutes to let people know he's out there and not just passed out drunk under a shrub. I always thought this must be convenient for the criminals as well, as the whistle constantly lets you know where the security guard isn't.

Reuters doesn't mention which barrio this Osama is from, but it's possible he's even semi-employed in a similar fashion. It doesn't look like he's wearing a whistle, but it could be lurking behind that mighty beard.

Worth noting that I dressed up as Osama one Halloween, and unlike Americans, the Colombians didn't call the 5-oh. There's an amusing story about more Bogota Osamas on my MySpace blog, which I wish I could link to, but could be found by the ambitiously bored by clicking on my profile, which leads to MySpace, which leads to the blog, which has a cleverly un-user-friendly "older" posts link on the left side.

[#7 posted by fearlessleo , January 30, 2008 5:08 PM]

someones' cover just got blown...

[#8 posted by anarchx , January 30, 2008 5:28 PM]

"Aguirre"? The Wrath of God??? I KNEW Klaus Kinski wasn't really dead!

[#9 posted by Teckwolf , January 30, 2008 9:43 PM]

Yeah I don't think this guy has the advantage of being inconspicuous, if that's what you want to call it, anymore.