Bin Laden was "a shy, courteous boy" - ex-teacher (2001)

Osama bin Laden was a quiet and shy pupil, a British teacher who taught him English at an elite Saudi Arabian school was quoted. Brian Fyfield-Shayler told Britain's Sun newspaper the boy who grew into the world's most wanted man behaved well, did all his work on time and was not particularly religious.

"I remember him as quiet, retiring and rather shy," Fyfield-Shayler, 69, was quoted as saying. "He was very courteous - more so than any of the others in his class."

Bin Laden, son of a wealthy Saudi industrialist, joined 30 boys in Fyfield-Shayler's class during 1968 and 1969, the Sun said.

He is now the prime suspect behind last week's attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

"Physically, he was outstanding because he was taller,@handsome and fairer than most of the other boys," the ex-teacher said. "He also stood out as he was singularly gracious and polite, and had a great deal of inner confidence."

Fyfield-Shayler, now retired and living in southwest England, said he believed the Western-style education at the school may have sewn the seeds of violence in bin Laden.

He and the other boys wore Western-style school uniforms of white shirts, black trousers, shoes and socks.

"I'm pretty sure that looking back at a school like that, he would have decided it was rather alien," Fyfield-Shayler said.

But he did not remember his former pupil as particularly religious. "There were students in each class who were always the first to rush off to prayer. But he wasn't one of them."

　

一位曾在沙特阿拉伯精英学校教过本-拉登的英国老师说，拉登小时侯是一个安静的、非常害羞的小学生。 这位老师名叫布莱恩-法费尔德-舍勒在接受英国《太阳报》采访时说，本-拉登小时候在学校表现很好，作业从不拖拉，对宗教也没有显示出极端的热情，而今他却成了世界头号通缉犯。

今年 69岁的舍勒老师说："在我记忆中，本-拉登是个安静的，甚至有点腼腆的孩子，比班上其他同学都要谦虚。"

据《太阳报》报道，拉登是一位沙特富有的工业家的儿子。他于1968年至1969年期间在舍勒老师的班上同其他30个孩子一起学习。

现在，美国认定他是9·11纽约和华盛顿恐怖事件的主谋。

这位老师还回忆说："拉登当年个子高高的，长得很英俊，比班上别的孩子都帅气。他非常懂礼貌，而且很自信。"

舍勒老师现在已经退休，居住在英格兰的西南部。他认为现在拉登变得极端暴力是和当年西式教育在幼年拉登的心中播下了暴力的种子分不开。

当年的孩子们都要求穿西式的校服--白衬衫，黑裤子、黑鞋子和黑袜子。舍勒老师说："当时的西式装束一定让拉登觉得和自己（的民族服装、信仰）有很大的冲突。"

但舍勒老师并不认为当年的拉登对宗教有极端的热情。他说："当时班上有几个孩子一到祈祷时间就迫不及待的冲出去作祈祷，而拉登并没有冲在前面。"