Brand 'bin Laden'

Yesterday, on a day when the FTSE had the sharpest one day fall since 9/11, the importance of perception could not have been more relevant. And believe it or not, I was sidetracked from the markets, Alistair Darling delivering the fate of Northern Rock, more MoD laptops loaded with civilian private data going missing and an Indian company securing Jaguar... by CNN's Aneesh Raman interviewing Mr bin Laden. That's Omar Osama bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's son.

He is in the process of attempting to raise funding for a horse race 'for peace' across North Africa, which from the sounds of things is proving to be difficult. And Mr Raman ended with what can only be regarded as a rhetorical question... "can a son re-brand a name his father has made synonymous with terror?" Well, we all know that the bin Laden family are involved in all sorts of legitimate businesses apart from terror. But in this case, I fear that it may take more than a race for peace to shift perceptions.