[ He was shown in Western attire without a beard, a "fabricated" image of bin Laden in an American post.
Saturday, 5/1/2002 - The Pentagon announced that Americans are distributing a flier in Afghanistan featuring a picture of Osama bin Laden without a beard and in "civilian" clothes, describing him as a "coward" and urging his supporters to surrender. The leaflet, which bears the slogan "Don't die for nothing" and was distributed to newspapers, shows bin Laden disguised in ordinary clothes to escape from Afghanistan. The fabricated image shows bin Laden clean-shaven but with a mustache, wearing Western attire with a tie, and the caption under the picture reads, "Osama bin Laden, the killer and coward." On the back of the flier, there is a picture of piled-up corpses and a text directed at Al-Qaeda supporters saying, "Osama bin Laden, the killer and coward, has abandoned Al-Qaeda. He has abandoned you and fled." Surrender yourselves and do not die for nothing. You mean nothing to him. "Spare your families the pain of your loss." Washington has recently acknowledged that it has lost track of bin Laden, and other publications have offered a reward of 5 million for anyone who helps capture him. The Pentagon reported that Bin Laden could either be alive in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or somewhere else, or dead inside a cave in Tora Bora (East). Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was asked whether the publications might be seen by the Arab world as evidence of manipulation and fabrication by the Americans, following doubts about a video tape broadcast last month. He replied, "Everything related to Osama bin Laden's activities in the world is based on lies," adding, "There is always a possibility that people do not tell the truth, but we cannot do anything about that reality." The Pentagon spokesperson, Victoria Clarke, praised on Friday the results achieved by the leaflets that were dropped from the air or distributed on the ground among Afghan residents to encourage them to help in the hunt for Al-Qaeda members. She said, "We have received a lot of information thanks to that," adding that many Afghans "are asking or searching." A. F. B.]
https://www.albayan.ae/one-world/2002-01-06-1.1281737 
