January 18, 2002

# 009

This has been a month of lots of work for me. And excitement too, as I read what I’ve found in Tora-Bora’s manuscripts. It starts with some kind of explanation about the reason Bishr Ibn Al Sirri wrote it. I will try to translate it the best I can, but you must be aware that it was written many years ago, and I am not the best person to do this job.

January 6, 2002

# 008

IN MY LAST POSTING I told you about the events that made me publish this blog on the Internet. While in Islamabad, I read many parts of the manuscript, enough to make me think about lots of things. It seems to be Bishr Ibn Al Sirri comments on a series of books of what today is called the Bible – he treats them as different books. I am not used to the Bible and could not identify which part was taken from it and which one was a Bishr Ibn Al Sirri comment.

January 4, 2002

# 007

THE IMAGE OF THE SOLDIER'S LETTER was on my notebook's screen, defying me to read characters written by the trembling hand of a dying man. I opened a notepad in another window, so I could take notes while reading it. Actually, it seemed to be part of a letter, perhaps one of the last pages. I hadn't noticed other pages on the body when I was in the cave. They were probably covered by dust or had fallen somewhere else. The only page, in Arabic language, went more or less like this:

January 3, 2002

# 006

"WE WILL KILL EVERY AMERICAN!" After last night's "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, these were the first and harsh words waking me up in that not yet sunny morning in Islamabad. I was sure it was not Louis Armstrong's voice, nor they were part of the original song. The shout came through the open window of my hotel room, only one store above the street level. I took a careful look there, only to see what could become a bloody battlefield gathering a few feet below.