The
new FBI-retouch of an aging Osama bin Laden on the left, and
Spanish
politician Gaspar Llamazares on the right: Is this how the
FBI
goes about profiling America's most wanted?
El Mundo, Spain
Osama bin ... Llamazares?
"And
you're sure this is a Spanish politician? … I'm glad that this isn't the work
of the State Department but the FBI, and I'm also glad not be in the skin of the
person who did this."
Madrid: The man in the image
on the left could be, more or less, Osama bin Laden. So believes the government
of the United States, where the FBI came up with this "identi-sketch"
as part of its hunt for the terrorist leader. But … what about the rights of Gaspar
Llamazares? Was this a "slip-up" by reporters of El Mundo in
the process of putting together a story?
Not this time. Look at the
hair of both men: gray, slightly wavy ... identical. And not just the hair, but
the forehead is also the same, with that crease that runs from temple to temple.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
[Editor's Note: Llamazares charges
that his forehead, hair and jaw-line were cut and pasted onto the photograph of
bin Laden. Yesterday the FBI admitted that a technician "wasn't satisfied"
with the "hair features" included in the FBI's software program, so he used part
of a photo of Llamazares found on the Net. "The technician
had no idea whose image he had found and no dark motive for using it," FBI
spokesman Ken Hoffman said.]
More than one reader has been
understandably skeptical, expressing the thought: "I've already seen what El
Mundo can do with Photoshop!"
Neither of these is the case.
The image in question appears on the official U.S. State Department Web site for
the program, "Rewards
for Justice," an initiative created in 1984 to collect clues leading
to the capture of terrorists in exchange for amounts that, in the example of al-Qaeda's
"number one," reach $25 million (€17 million).
Specifically, this photograph
of bin Laden, posted for almost a decade since the attacks of September 11, is
attributed to the Web site of the FBI. But how someone from that agency came to
affix the hair of the former leader of the United Left onto
the Saudi terrorist, with an apparent "click" of a Playmobil
game, remains a big question.
A source at the State
Department press office confirmed that the El Mundo "identi-sketch"
is the work of the FBI. He also expressed surprise. "And you're sure this
is a Spanish politician?," he said, upon learning of the match. "I'm
glad that this isn't the work of the State Department but the FBI, and I'm also
glad not be in the skin of the person who did this."
From the Office of Diplomatic
Security - the entity responsible for the "Rewards for Justice" program,
spokesman David Bates acknowledged that while the Web site is run by the
Department of State, the image of bin Laden was created in laboratories of the FBI.
"Several American
security agencies participate in the initiative. The FBI labs updated their
photos of bin Laden and we decided to post the images to our Web site as well,"
Bates said.
Meanwhile, in a press release on the
photos, the FBI took pride in its role creating the images. Louis E. Grever, executive assistant director for the FBI's
Science and Technology Branch,
called the images, "powerful examples of how advances in
technology and science can be used to help find and bring to justice wanted
persons."
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
“The FBI has and will
continue to apply cutting-edge forensic, biometric, and technical capabilities
to our most challenging cases. Together with our many partners, both here and
abroad, we now call on the public to help us locate and take into custody those
who threaten us."
What remains is to locate the
technician who decided to put the hair of Llamzares onto the head of bin Laden.
Meanwhile, the United Left
has confirmed that the photograph with the al-Qaeda
leader's "new hair" is genuine, and that it's from a 2004 general election campaign poster,
according to [El Mundo reporter] Augustine Yanel.
[At a press conference on Sunday,
Gaspar
Llamazares offered a few comments on the affair: "I was surprised and angered because it's the most shameless use of a real person to make up the image of a terrorist ... This is almost like out of a comedy if it didn't deal with matters as serious as bin Laden and citizens' security. ... bin Laden's safety isn't threatened by this, but mine certainly is." Later, speaking to CNN, the Spanish lawmaker said, " First, I will ask the FBI for an explanation, which they haven't given me yet. And then I will reserve the right to take legal action.]
