MADRID – A Spanish lawmaker was horrified to learn that the FBI used an online photograph of him to create an image showing what Osama bin Laden might look like today.

The image using Gaspar Llamazares’ photo appeared on a wanted poster updating the U.S. government’s 1998 photo of the al-Qaida leader.

FBI spokesman Ken Hoffman acknowledged to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the agency used a picture of Llamazares taken from Google Images.

In a statement Saturday, the agency would say only that it was aware of similarities between their age-progressed image “and that of an existing photograph of a Spanish public official.”

“The forensic artist was unable to find suitable features among the reference photographs and obtained those features, in part, from a photograph he found on the Internet,” the FBI said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The wanted poster appeared on the State Department Web site rewardsforjustice.net, listing a reward of up to $25 million. The FBI said the photo of bin Laden would be removed from the Web site.

Llamazares, former leader of the United Left party, was elected to Spain’s parliament in 2000. The photograph of him used to make the wanted poster originally appeared on posters for his 2004 general-election campaign.

He said he would no longer feel safe traveling to the United States after his hair and facial wrinkles appeared on the bin Laden image.

“I was surprised and angered because it’s the most shameless use of a real person to make up the image of a terrorist,” Llamazares said Saturday at a news conference. “It’s almost like out of a comedy if it didn’t deal with matters as serious as bin Laden and citizens’ security.”

Llamazares planned to ask the U.S. government for an explanation and said he reserved the right to take legal action.

Llamazares said he was concerned to see the government resorting to what he called sloppy techniques, especially in the light of recent terrorism alerts such as the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airplane.

“It might provoke mirth, but it demonstrates that what we’re seeing from security services isn’t exactly recommendable,” he said.

Llamazares said he has “no similarity, physically or ideologically” to bin Laden. They do share one trait — both are 52.

Jose Morales, spokesman for Llamazares’ party, was surprised that computer images such as the retouched bin Laden photo were made using photos of real people.

Bin Laden, who is wanted in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, is believed to be hiding in the lawless Pakistan frontier bordering Afghanistan. His exact whereabouts have been unknown since late 2001, when he and some bodyguards slipped out of the Tora Bora mountains after evading air strikes, special forces and Afghan militias.

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On the Net:

Terrorism rewards Web site: http://www.rewardsforjustice.net

It adds a sad and ironic emphasis to his words “its good to see someone actually smelling the “roses”…too many forget in this wonderful country.” Please heed Simon’s words. Take some time to smell the roses, wherever you may be. RIP Simon.

I’m originally from Melvindale, my dad was a det. in the pd there back in the day. I was a police clerk in the ’70s. I bet we know some of the same people. LOL.

I kept a boat in Gibraltar for years before moving it to Chicago– Jackson Harbor. Boating is a whole lot better in Michigan. I don’t miss Mich so much, but Chicagoland is going like Detroit now. I think we’ll be retiring down south.

Good luck to ya.

As you say most women are decent, well behaved and probably in Thailand the hardest working part of the society. Unfortunately the jackals is what many face first, and many foreigners behave as all women are easy objects, and truly misunderstand that they are just polite and friendly as been beaten into their head from childhood. Be nice to men…

The corruption is tragic and all consuming sometimes, it’s so rooted in the society they seems to accept and even support it… They don’t know anything else…

Maybe been here to long, I don’t get too upset anymore. The wrong directions, the zero help in governmental offices unless you help them. The lies “Yes I know”, “Sure I come”, “I do good” all these things are trivial.

What upset me last time was when I went into a shop, I had some oddball bolts which came with an ebay thing, no nuts, never mind went to the hardware shop, had the bolt with me. Do you have nuts for these bolts? I asked in Thai, first a lot of cosy remarks over my Thai, then a trivial game of asking what I would use it for, lot of question, how much I bought it for etc… This took 30 minutes then I politely asked, ohh I must go so can I have the nuts? Answer… Ohh I don’t have them…
This happens sometimes and is annoying, or when you sit down with your friends at a restaurant, order your food. Everyone is served, eat finish and you ask… Where is my food? Ohh we don’t have it anymore…
Sometimes you get something else than you ordered, hey I did not order this… Ohh we don’t have what you ordered but this is good also…

Thailand takes patience, lot of coolness and you cannot vent your frustration, it’s bad mannered.

I see myself very lucky I have Thai friends who I can trust, my wife have never done something behind my back with money, her family never ask for money, I have western friends I trust. So I am lucky, meet a lot of bad apples tho and it normally cost me money, seems like the society find it acceptable to cheat, steal or blackmail a falang. So I am very careful, then again every now and again there is a new trick or person with a brilliant side who suddenly turn. Luckily my Thai friends are normally ahead and recover for me when I get tricked.

What I see as the BIGGEST problem in Thailand is the way they deal with police. If someone hold a grudge they may report you to the police, as we know the western law we are not worried over this. Well be worried, if someone falsely report you, you are guilty until proven innocent, I have experienced this first hand and believe me it’s true. Only way out is either settle, manage to make them withdraw the case or go to court. Court might take 2 years, and you will loose the permit to work, travel out of the country etc. SO you are locked from making money, wait 2 years, deemed innocent, guess what there is no, absolutely NO punishment for claiming a fake case, they simply mai ben rai and end of story…
Anyone think this is uncommon, it’s not it really hits the Thai society a lot, go anytime to the Police and you’ll find it filled with people claiming cases. The police execute the cases, as soon as it’s on paper you have to solve it. Very very annoying and very dangerous, so unless you have powerful friends be careful to make people hold grudges against you.

Cheers Bard