FEARED Al-QAEDA LEADER Osama bin Laden was a “tender, gentle, kind” family man who often cried, according to his successor Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Al-Zawahiri made the comments in a new video he said was meant to “show the human side” of the man widely held responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the US.

“People don’t know that this man was tender, gentle, kind, with refined feelings, even when life was hard,” he said according to the BBC. “We never saw a man like him.”

He said bin Laden was sometimes emotional, and came to al-Zawahiri with tears in his eyes when he learned that some of his deputy’s relatives had been killed. Al-Zawahiri also emphasised bin Laden’s close relationship with his sons, the Telegraph reports.

The 30-minute video posted on jihadi websites is called Days with the Imam: Part One. Observers have suggested it is designed to emphasise al-Zawahiri’s closeness to the charismatic former al-Qaeda leader, who was killed in an operation by US Navy Seals earlier this year.

Watch an extract from the video here:

Video: telegraphtv

- Additional reporting from AP