Omar Osama bin Laden, 26, one of Osama bin Laden's 19 children, raised a storm last year when he married a 52-year-old British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, who took the name Zaina Alsabah.

Now the couple is planning a 4800km horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace.

"It's about changing the ideas of the Western mind," Omar said at a cafe in a Cairo shopping mall.

"A lot of people think Arabs - especially the bin Ladens, especially the sons of Osama - are all terrorists.

"This is not the truth."

Of course, many may have a hard time getting their mind around the idea of "bin Laden: peacenik".

"Omar thinks he can be a negotiator," said Alsabah, who is trying to entice her husband to Britain.

"He's one of the only people who can do this in the world."

The couple has applied for a visa to Britain. Meanwhile they are planning their endurance horse race across North Africa, which they hope to start in March.

It is in the planning stages - they are seeking approval of governments along the route and need sponsors to help pay for the event and raise money for child victims of war.

Omar said they planned to ride 48km a day, with periodic weeklong rests in each country.

Teams from around the world will be encouraged to join in what the couple sees as an equine version of the cancelled Paris-Dakar car rally.

"I heard the rally was stopped because of al-Qaida," Omar said.

"I don't think they are going to stop me."

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