Few expected Saudi construction tycoon's son to be the radical, violent, anti-US terrorist he came to be
Few expected Saudi construction tycoon's son to be the radical, violent, anti-US terrorist he came to be
Birth of ideology
Bin Laden's first influences were the Al Thagher teachers who offered extra-curricular Islam lessons. They were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political group begun in Egypt which, at that time, promoted violent means to achieve Islamic governance. At university he studied civil engineering, economics and public administration. Just a few months later he left Saudi Arabia to join the Afghan resistanceu00a0-- the mujahideen. Islamists from around the Muslim world poured in to Afghanistan to join the fight.
For the next six years, he raised funds aiding the mujahideen in the fight against the Soviets. By 1986 he had proven himself as a fighter and risen to the rank of a guerilla commander in the battle against the Soviets. At the time, his interests converged with the US, which was arming the mujahideen against its Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union.
In 1988, heavily influenced by the writings of Sayyid Qutb and the teachings of Ayman al Zawahiri, the Egyptian militant he met in 1986, he formed Al Qaeda. Using the fruits of his family's success, he developed Al Qaeda into a militant trans-national network. In 1989 the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. Osama went home to Saudi Arabia a hero. He took a job at his family construction group, the Bin Laden Group, but also began working with opposition movements whose aim was to bring down the Saudi monarchy. But the Saudi leadership turned to the US to protect its oil reserves. In April 1991 he fled to Khartoum in Sudan, where the National Islamic Front had staged a military coup .
Post-Gulf War
By 1992, it is believed that Al Qaedau00a0 agreed to put aside its differences with other Islamic groups to concentrate on the common enemy, the U.S. By 1993 Osama was already working to develop chemical arms, and by 1994 he was believed to be financing at least three terrorist camps in Sudan. That year the Saudi government revoked his citizenship and froze his assets. He was expelled from Sudan in 1996. That same year, President Clinton signed an order authorising the CIA tou00a0 destroy Al Qaeda. In 1996 Bin Laden issued a declaration of jihad. In 1998 he issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill Americans anywhere in the world. Then came September 11, 2001.
After 9/11
Since that day, Bin Laden stayed a step ahead of the dragnet, perhaps the largest in history for a single individual. As the Taliban fell, Osama fled into the mountains separating Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he kept taunting the West to warn his pursuers of more bloodshed. Inu00a0 2001, he appeared in a video to issue a threat to America. "I swear by God...neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it in Palestine, and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him," said Bin Laden, dressed in fatigues.
In 2002, he threatened Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and Australia for their support of the US. "It is time we get even. You will be killed just as you kill, and will be bombed just as you bomb," he said. Later, he called on Muslims to rise up against leaders in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait whom he saw as Washington's stooges. As the attacks he commissioned grew, the chase intensified.
At several points in the years since 2001, Osama's capture or death had appeared imminent. Through it all, he vowed repeatedly that he was willing to die in his fight to drive Israelis from Jerusalem and Americans from Saudi and Iraq; and he did.
Immortal?
In an interview with a Pakistani journalist conducted shortly after the US invasion of Afghanistan, Osama was quoted as saying, "America can't get me alive. I can be eliminated, but not my mission."
Birth of ideology
Bin Laden's first influences were the Al Thagher teachers who offered extra-curricular Islam lessons. They were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political group begun in Egypt which, at that time, promoted violent means to achieve Islamic governance. At university he studied civil engineering, economics and public administration. Just a few months later he left Saudi Arabia to join the Afghan resistanceu00a0-- the mujahideen. Islamists from around the Muslim world poured in to Afghanistan to join the fight.
For the next six years, he raised funds aiding the mujahideen in the fight against the Soviets. By 1986 he had proven himself as a fighter and risen to the rank of a guerilla commander in the battle against the Soviets. At the time, his interests converged with the US, which was arming the mujahideen against its Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union.
In 1988, heavily influenced by the writings of Sayyid Qutb and the teachings of Ayman al Zawahiri, the Egyptian militant he met in 1986, he formed Al Qaeda. Using the fruits of his family's success, he developed Al Qaeda into a militant trans-national network. In 1989 the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. Osama went home to Saudi Arabia a hero. He took a job at his family construction group, the Bin Laden Group, but also began working with opposition movements whose aim was to bring down the Saudi monarchy. But the Saudi leadership turned to the US to protect its oil reserves. In April 1991 he fled to Khartoum in Sudan, where the National Islamic Front had staged a military coup .
Post-Gulf War
By 1992, it is believed that Al Qaedau00a0 agreed to put aside its differences with other Islamic groups to concentrate on the common enemy, the U.S. By 1993 Osama was already working to develop chemical arms, and by 1994 he was believed to be financing at least three terrorist camps in Sudan. That year the Saudi government revoked his citizenship and froze his assets. He was expelled from Sudan in 1996. That same year, President Clinton signed an order authorising the CIA tou00a0 destroy Al Qaeda. In 1996 Bin Laden issued a declaration of jihad. In 1998 he issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill Americans anywhere in the world. Then came September 11, 2001.
After 9/11
Since that day, Bin Laden stayed a step ahead of the dragnet, perhaps the largest in history for a single individual. As the Taliban fell, Osama fled into the mountains separating Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he kept taunting the West to warn his pursuers of more bloodshed. Inu00a0 2001, he appeared in a video to issue a threat to America. "I swear by God...neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it in Palestine, and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him," said Bin Laden, dressed in fatigues.
In 2002, he threatened Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and Australia for their support of the US. "It is time we get even. You will be killed just as you kill, and will be bombed just as you bomb," he said. Later, he called on Muslims to rise up against leaders in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait whom he saw as Washington's stooges. As the attacks he commissioned grew, the chase intensified.
At several points in the years since 2001, Osama's capture or death had appeared imminent. Through it all, he vowed repeatedly that he was willing to die in his fight to drive Israelis from Jerusalem and Americans from Saudi and Iraq; and he did.
Immortal?
In an interview with a Pakistani journalist conducted shortly after the US invasion of Afghanistan, Osama was quoted as saying, "America can't get me alive. I can be eliminated, but not my mission."
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