SUDAN: The product of Osama bin Laden's horse-breeding experiment is being offered for sale to racing enthusiasts in Sudan.
Riyah, a 10-year-old dappled mare, spends her days in the shade of a dusty stable on the outskirts of Khartoum.
A camel housed next door barks at strangers and goats peck at the sand beneath her hooves. But Riyah - which means "the wind" in Arabic - was once bin Laden's beloved plaything. Bin Laden spent five years in Sudan, before being kicked out in 1996.
When he was not milking profits from his African construction firms or co-ordinating a global network of fanatics, the Saudi-born terror chief loved nothing more than racing off on Riyah into the desert sands.
Today, his horse is a sorry sight and Issam al-Turabi (40), an old business associate of the al-Qaeda mastermind, is ready to sell.
"I am just keeping her for free in my place," he says. "She eats and drinks for free and will never win anything, so she has become a burden. If I can sell her for about $500 then maybe I can get another." Mr al-Turabi is the son of Hassan al-Turabi, once seen as the Islamic brain behind the government of president Omar al-Bashir. Bin Laden and the younger al-Turabi became friends, based on their mutual love of racing.
"He asked me to buy him some good, well-bred horses, so I bought him some thoroughbreds. But then he started bringing Arabians to breed with these Sudanese thoroughbreds.
"So this horse," he says, pointing to Riyah, "is a distorted breed." The result, he says, is a genetic mixture, unable to compete with either thoroughbreds or imported Arabians.
Bin Laden's stay in Khartoum was cut short when he was expelled by the Khartoum government. It was under intense pressure from the US who believed he was using his construction interests in the country to channel funds to al-Qaeda. Mr al-Turabi says he cannot reconcile the gentle man he knew with the terrorist who unleashed the September 11th attacks.
"At the time I knew him, he was just a wealthy Saudi man and a good Muslim. It all changed when he was thrown out of here. If he had been left here, I think he would have just got old and fat and not been any trouble."
Bin Laden's companies, worth an estimated $30 million, were seized by the Sudanese government. "When bin Laden left the country I don't think he had a chance to take care of his belongings. When the president of a country like Sudan asks you to leave, then I think that you go quickly," Mr al-Turabi says.
A regular racegoer said: "Osama is still famous here. His horses are the best and we think he still wins a lot of money from the races, but of course, no-one can ever admit this."
