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Who is Osama bin Laden?Osama bin Laden's power is founded on a personal fortune earned by his family's construction business in Saudi Arabia. According to BBC correspondent Rob Simpson, he has been able to rally around him forces of up to 3,000 fighters. Mr. bin Laden's power stems from the fact that "he can operate across boundaries with relative impunity," according to Dr. Gordon Adams of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Only a few weeks before the bombings of US embassies in East Africa, Mr. bin Laden renewed his threat to wage a holy war against the Unites States. Born in Saudi Arabia to a Yemeni family, Mr. bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 to fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. There he founded the Maktab al-Khidimat (MAK), which recruited fighters from around the world and imported equipment to aid the Afghan resistance against the Soviet army. Part of his investment was in earth-moving equipment to build roads and tunnels to aid the movement of resistance fighters. Egyptians, Lebanese, Turks and others -- numbering thousands, in Mr. bin Laden's estimate -- joined their Afghan Muslim brothers in the struggle against an ideology that spurned religion. Turned against the USThe Afghan jihad was backed with American dollars and had the blessing of the governments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. He received security training from the CIA itself, says Middle Eastern analyst Hazhir Teimourian. However, after the Soviet withdrawal, the "Arab Afghans", as Mr. bin Laden's faction came to be called, turned their fire against the US and its allies in the Middle East. Mr. bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia to work in the family construction business, but was expelled in 1991 because of his anti-government activities there. He spent the next five years in Sudan, until US pressure prompted the Sudanese government to expel him, whereupon Mr. bin Laden returned to Afghanistan. Nine years after the Soviets retreated from Afghanistan, terrorism experts say Mr. bin Laden is using his millions to fund attacks against the US. The US State Department calls him "one of the most significant sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world today." According to the US, Mr. bin Laden was involved in at least 3 major attacks: the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1996 killing of 19 US soldiers in Saudi Arabia, and the recent bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Correspondent James Robbins says Mr. bin Laden had "all but admitted involvement" in the Saudi Arabia killings. Some experts say he is part of a new international Islamic front created over the last few months, bringing together Saudi, Egyptian, and other groups. Their rallying cry is the liberation of Islam's three holiest places -- Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The few outsiders who have met Osama bin Laden describe him as modest, almost shy. He rarely gives interviews. But he has allowed himself to be photographed, narrow eyes under a white turban, his long thin face made even longer by a long graying beard. He is believed to be in his 40s, and to have at least three wives. Mr. bin Laden has laid out his case against the United States in a series of fatwas, or religious edicts, faxed to the outside world from his hideout, deep within a cave in Afghanistan. "We -- with God's help -- call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it," read a February fatwa. For more information:
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If you had died in the attack of September 11, where would you have gone?The content of this web site is provided for informational purposes only. If you discover that any pieces posted to this site are inaccurate or copyrighted, please contact us immediately. Last modified: 10/05/05Site created by Daniel Bartsch |
