Omar bin Laden tells dad to end violence: CNN

Omar bin Laden went on the charm offensive Sunday, telling CNN his father, Osama, should find a better way to reach his goals, and vowing to be a champion for peace between the Muslim world and the West.

Speaking to CNN in a quiet, middle-class suburb an hour outside Cairo, Omar said: "I try and say to my father: 'Try to find another way to help or find your goal. This bomb, this weapons, it's not good to use it for anybody'."

Omar, 26, who came into the media spotlight after marrying a British woman almost twice his age last year, has not spoken to his father since 2000, when he walked away from an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.

He told CNN he has no idea where his father is, but is confident he will never be caught because the local people would protect him.

Omar also said he doesn't consider his father to be a terrorist, pointing out that Washington considered him a hero when he was fighting the Soviets: "Before they call it war; now they call it terrorism," he told the U.S. news channel.

He said Osama believes his duty is to protect Muslims, but that the two men differ greatly over the issue of killing civilians.

"I don't think 9/11 was right personally, but it happened," he said. "I don't think ... [the war] in Vietnam was right. I don't think what's going on in Palestine is right. I don't think what's going on in Iraq is right…If we make what is right and not right, we will make a very big list," he told CNN interviewer Aneesh Raman.

Now, Omar and his 52-year-old wife Zaina say they plan to embark on a campaign for peace, leading a months-long horse race across North Africa.

The 4,825 km (3,000-mile) race is expected to kick off in March and will feature teams from around the world.

But Omar – one of Osama's 19 children – told CNN it will not be easy to reconcile relations between Islamists and the West: "My father doesn't have the power to stop the [al-Qaeda] movement at this moment," he said.

Omar runs a contracting company in Saudi Arabia, but spends much of his time in Egypt.