Bin Laden ‘spent all his money on jihad and giving guests good food’

Osama bin Laden led a frugal life, spending all his wealth on attacks against the West and serving his guests good food, the al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video posted online yesterday.

In the half-hour tape titled Days with the imam, Part Two a bespectacled Zawahiri, who took up the reins of al Qaeda after bin Laden’s killing just over a year ago, fondly recalled his predecessor’s meagre comforts.

“When you entered his house you would be surprised.