THURSDAY,AUGUST1,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO NEWS | A
from Mr. bin Laden stopped
months ago, although an article
attributed to him was published
in May.
Mr. bin Laden was likely oper-
ating on the Pakistan-Afghanis-
tanborder,saidThomasJoscelyn,
a senior fellow at the Foundation
for the Defense of Democracies.
While Mr. Joscelyn said he
doubted that Mr. bin Laden was
next in line to lead al-Qaeda, he
said he had an important role,
bothintermsoftiestotheTaliban
and as a spokesman. “They were
building him up to potentially be
the No. 1 some day; he was not
thought of as the heir apparent
today,” Mr. Joscelyn said.
The location of Mr. bin Laden
had been the subject of public
speculation. After the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, he and other mem-
bers of al-Qaeda fled to Iran,
wheretheyweredetained.Hewas
eventually allowed to leave Iran,
then reportedly moved with his
family to the Pakistan border re-
gion. At one point, intelligence
showed that he had travelled to
Syriainthepastseveralyears,for-
mer officials have said.
TheCIAhasdevastatedal-Qae-
da, relentlessly targeting its oper-
ativesafter9/11.Theagencykilled
another son, Saad bin Laden, in a
drone strike in 2009 while he was
operating in a remote area of Pa-
kistan. Another son, Khalid, was
killedinthe2011Abbottabadraid.
Even had he taken over for his
father to lead al-Qaeda, Hamza
bin Laden would have faced chal-
lenges as an untested leader. But
his famous name would have
been a boost to the terrorist orga-
nization.
“This hurts the al-Qaeda
brand,” said Colin P. Clarke, a se-
niorfellowattheSoufanCenter,a
research organization for global
security issues. “Even though he
was unproven and untested, that
name still means a lot to youngji-
hadis.”NEWYORKTIMESNEWSSERVICEOsama bin Laden’s son Hamza
bin Laden, who was viewed as an
eventual heir to the leadership of
al-Qaedaandwhohadrepeatedly
threatened to attack the United
States, is dead, according to two
U.S. officials.
Details of the strike that killed
him were scarce, including when
and where.The U.S.government
playedaroleintheoperation,but
it was not clear how, according to
the officials, who discussed his
death on the condition of ano-
nymity because it involved sensi-
tive operations and intelligence
gathering.
Hamza bin Laden was killed
some time during the first two
years of the Trump administra-
tion, officials said. He was killed
before the State Department an-
nounced a US$1-million reward
for information on his where-
abouts in February, but U.S. mili-
tary and intelligence agencies
had not confirmed his death by
then.
ThoughMr.binLadencarrieda
prominent name and lineage, the
news of his death represented
more of a symbolic victory for the
U.S. government than the remov-
al of a threat. Al-Qaeda has not
carried out a large-scale attack in
years, and though Mr. bin Laden
was being groomed to eventually
take over the group, that time ap-
peared to be well into the future.
After the 2011 death of Osama
binLadeninaSEALTeam6raidin
Abbottabad, Pakistan, two of his
top lieutenants began preparing
Hamza bin Laden for a top lead-
ership role. He married a daugh-
ter of one of them and pledged to
avenge his father’s death.
Mr. bin Laden was introduced
as a voice of al-Qaeda in August,
2015, as “a young lion to carry
forth the cause.” The regular
messages that al-Qaeda releasedHamzabinLaden,presumed
heirtoal-Qaedaleadership,
hasbeenkilled:U.S.officials
JULIANE.BARNES
ADAMGOLDMAN
ERICSCHMITTWASHINGTONThe U.S. Senate has confirmed Kelly Craft to
become the next U.S. envoy to the United Na-
tions despite Democratic concerns about her
inexperience and potential conflicts of inter-
est.
Ms. Craft, a long-time GOP activist from Ken-
tucky, is currently U.S. ambassador to Canada.
She was confirmed 56-34, ending a more than
seven-month vacancy in the key diplomatic
position.
She and her husband, Joe Craft, have donat-
ed millions of dollars to Republican political
candidates, and she will be the first major po-
litical donor to occupy the top UN post for any
administration. Mr. Craft is the chief executive
of Alliance Resource Partners, one of the large-
st coal producers in the country.
In her confirmation hearing, Ms. Craft
vowed to continue the efforts of U.S. President
Donald Trump’s first ambassador to the UN,
Nikki Haley, to push for reform at the world
body and to fight against anti-Israel resolu-
tions and actions by the UN and its affiliated
agencies. During Ms. Haley’s tenure, the ad-
ministration withdrew from the UN Human
Rights Council and the UN educational and sci-
entific agency for adopting positions it deemed
to be hostile to Israel.
Mr. Trump nominated Ms. Craft to replace
Ms. Haley after his first choice for the job, for-
mer State Department spokeswoman Heather
Nauert, withdrew from consideration. Ms. Ha-
ley stepped down from the post in December.
Democrats criticized Ms. Craft at the hearing
for previous remarks she had made doubting
the causes and severity of climate change and
suggesting that climate change skeptics have
valid arguments. They were also concerned
about possible conflicts of interest as she holds
extensive investments in fossil fuels.
Ms. Craft said at the hearing that she ac-
knowledges the “vast amount of science” re-
garding climate change and the role humans
have played. “If confirmed, I will be an advo-
cate for addressing climate change,” she said.ASSOCIATED PRESSKellyCraft,along-timeGOPactivistfromKentucky,andherhusband,JoeCraft,havedonatedmillions
ofdollarstoRepublicanpoliticalcandidates.STEFANIREYNOLDS/GETTYIMAGES
U.S.SenateconfirmsCraft,
currentenvoytoCanada,
asnewUNambassador
MARYCLAREJALONICKWASHINGTON