The CIA’s museum in Langley, Virginia, recently acquired a new artifact: the AK-47 of Osama bin Laden, a weapon that was found beside the former al-Qaeda leader’s dead body after he was killed by US Navy SEALs.
The museum contains gadgets, trophies, spyware and artifacts from
the past 70 years, including pieces from World War II and the War
on Terror. The museum is closed to the public, but NBC News
became the first media organization permitted to bring video
cameras into the facility.
The Russian AK-47 with counterfeit Chinese markings was recovered
from the Abbottabad compound where bin Laden was killed in a
midnight raid, and recently put on display at the
museum, according to the exclusive NBC report.
Museum Curator Toni Hiley said the Chinese markings remain a
mystery, but a Central Intelligence Agency analyst has concluded
that the weapon definitively belonged to bin Laden.
“This is the rifle that was recovered from the third floor of
the Abbottabad compound by the assault team,” Hiley said.
“Because of its proximity to (bin Laden) there on the third
floor in the compound, our analyst determined it to be his.
It’s a Russian AK with counterfeit Chinese markings.”
The CIA has not provided specific information on how the weapon
was obtained or whether it was loaded when it was found. An
anonymous source told NBC that it came from the “dark side” of
the agency, referring to the operations staff that worked with
the SEALS on the raid. The movie “Zero Dark Thirty” shows a
member of the assault team taking the weapon from a shelf above
bin Laden’s bed. But Hiley said she knows nothing aside from the
fact that former CIA Director Leon Panetta requested it and that
it is in good working condition. It is not the same weapon that
bin Laden was carrying in his anti-American propaganda videos.
“I wasn’t there,” said Hiley. “So I can’t confirm or
deny exactly where the weapon was. I just know that I have
it in my museum and I’m happy to have it.”
In 2011, the Associated Press reported that American soldiers
only found bin Laden’s guns after he was already dead and
photographed, which added fuel for critics who accused the US of
killing him while unarmed.
The Kalashnikov is mounted on pegs behind a glass case,
identified by a plaque that reads, “Osama bin Laden’s AK-47.” It
sits beside an al-Qaeda training manual found in Afghanistan,
near a mock-up display of bin Laden’s compound.
The model of the Abbottabad compound closely resembles the
facility as it was found when bin Laden was living in it.
“It’s as accurate as those hundreds of pieces of intelligence
would permit,” Hiley said. “Not only are they looking at
that intelligence, they’re going to the analysts and asking them,
‘Was the wire this far apart?’ So they’re trying to get
absolutely every single bit of truth into this model because they
know the model will be used.”
Republished from: RT