Officials could not verify whether bin Laden, himself, had been watching the videos.
"Well, well, well… what have we here? Seems U.S. officials have found many things while searching Osama bin Laden's million-dollar Abbottabad hideout. And what have they found most recently? Yep. Porn."
This, at least, is what Time Magazine reported Friday.
In this undated image taken from video provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, a man who the American government says is Osama bin Laden watches television in a video released on May 7. The videos show bin Laden watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist videos. Could he have used the TV for something else?Quoting Reuter's news service, Time says that the pornography recovered in bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded videos and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity.
According to National Public Radio, officials do not know bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials.
USA Today echos these reports with the following tidbit:
"The news agency quotes unidentified current and former U.S. officials as saying it is unclear where in the sprawling compound the material was found nor is it clear who had been viewing it."
Recently released home videos show bin Laden viewing pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating, at least, that he did have equipment capable of playing videos.
"Materials carted away from the compound by the U.S. commandos included digital thumb drives, which U.S. officials believe may have been a principal means by which couriers carried electronic messages to and from the late al Qaeda leader," Reuters reported.
Bin Laden, the purported mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was killed by Navy SEALs who raided his compound in Pakistan earlier this month.