One of the last people to film Osama bin Laden speaks out, 25 years later

Tuesday marked the 12th anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death.

The founder of Al-Qaeda was killed on May 2nd, 2011 at the hands of American forces in Pakistan. Up until his death 12 years ago, he was one of the most wanted men in U.S. history for his role in orchestrating the 9/11 attacks.

CityNews is hearing from one of the last people to film bin Laden, 25 years ago.

Cameraman Rick Bennett, now semi-retired and living in Vancouver, recalls traveling to Pakistan in May of 1998 to interview the man who would eventually become one of the most violent terrorists the world had ever seen, as “just another job.”

“There was a lot going on at the time, but it was sort of just another assignment. The bureau chief at ABC in London called me into his office one day and said ‘Listen we got this opportunity’ … and then he told me about bin Laden,” Bennett said.

Bennett alongside two ABC colleagues, a reporter and a translator, were then tasked with flying to Pakistan to interview bin Laden.

When they arrived, Bennett says they spent two days travelling in the hot Pakistani desert, escorted by bin Laden’s followers, before they were finally able to meet the man they had come so far to see.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen … [no one] really let us know what was going on.”

At the end of the second night, Bennett remembers his crew being told: ‘OK, now we go.’

“They said, ‘we’re going up the mountain’…they seized [everything], camera-gear, watches, anything. I assume they were looking for tracking devices.”

Bennett and his colleagues got into a truck and spent around 8 hours driving up into the local mountains.

“Along the way, there were Taliban checkpoints, and these guys would come out with grenade launchers and automatic weapons. They’d fling the doors open and there would be conversations going on. We didn’t know what they were saying. At one point I remember one of them putting a flashlight in my face and holding a gun to my head. I got a bit nervous then.”

After navigating through several checkpoints, Bennett’s crew finally reached the mountaintop where the interview would take place.

“I set up the camera, set up the light, and then all of sudden we could hear like World War III happening outside the door. bin Laden was arriving. He arrives, and his side-kick [Aymar] Al Zawahir was also with him. I managed to [film] him coming in and sitting down. We met briefly.”

Bennett says the whole interview was done through bin Laden’s translator, but bin Laden would not let the interview be translated while it was happening, seemingly hoping to avoid follow-up questions.

“The reporter, John Miller, said ‘well that’s not going to work’ and I remember [the translator] turning and saying, ‘this will not be a problem, because there will not be any follow-up questions.'”

Bennett recalls the notorious Islamic fundamentalist as being calm and deliberate during the interview.

“There was an aura about him, and the way he moved with authority. I was intimidated by the power he had over his followers.”

After the interview was over, the ABC translator conveyed to Bennett what bin Laden had said.

“[They] said ‘you won’t believe it, he’s declared war on America.'”

Three years later, in September of 2001, those words made a lot more sense. As the world witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.

“I was in London when 9/11 happened, and I turned on my television just in time to watch the second aircraft to hit the second tower, and I went ‘oh my god, he’s done it.’ I was certain it was him.”

Reflecting on the events of that day, Bennett expressed his regret that those responsible for U.S. security and intelligence did not give more heed to the warnings and threats.

“I couldn’t believe he got away with it, especially after our interview, we had risked our lives to tell this story,” he said. “I almost felt like America had let down their guard down and not taken him seriously.”