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Osama, This Is Your Life
A detailed guide to the life and times of al Qaeda financier and puppetmaster Osama bin Laden.
by Bo Crader
10/10/2001 12:01:00 AM
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Bo Crader, editorial assistant
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1957
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July 30: Born
in Riyadh to Yemeni bricklayer cum construction magnate Mohammed bin Laden
and his fourth wife, reported variously as a Syrian or Palestinian woman.1
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He is the 17 th
of
Mohammed's reported 52 children and the only child of his mother. 2
1968
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Inherits somewhere
between $20 million and $80 million when his father perishes in a plane crash.
Reports that his inheritance was between $200 and $300 million are generally
viewed as inaccurate.
3
1975
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Begins school
at King Abdel Aziz University in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
4
He
is largely believed to study civil engineering, although some sources cite
his field of study as economics, business administration, or management.
5
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Of particular interest
to bin Laden are courses in Middle East politics under Sheikh Abdullah
Azzam, a former PLO operative.
6
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Others, including
a former barber, report that bin Laden was a "spoiled brat" and party
animal, drinking heavily, gambling, and entertaining a penchant for belly
dancers and bar brawls. 7
1979
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The Soviet Union invades
Afghanistan. Bin Laden graduates from college and moves to Afghanistan to
aid the mujahedeen against Soviet forces, using his considerable means and
family's construction empire to deliver food, ammunition, weapons, and
medical supplies to the guerrillas.
8
-
He also builds a number
of training camps, housing facilities, and logistical networks. The organization
he establishes for the undertaking of these operations
is known as Maktab
al Khadimat (MAK) 9 which
serves as a global recruiting network for the Muslim forces. 10
This
infrastructure later grows into the organization now known as al Qaeda
(Arabic for "military base").
11
The
group provides materiel and training to the guerrillas, as well as recruits new members and encourages
like-minded groups. 12
-
Al Qaeda will reportedly
train over 5,000 militants in the coming years. 13
Many
of those trained are "sleepers," operatives blending in with their environs
in host countries until ordered to strike.
1989
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Returns
to Saudi Arabia after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Bin Laden harshly
criticizes what he views as the ruling family's pro-Western politics. 14
1991
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Criticizes
the Saudi ruling family for employing Western troops to fight Saddam Hussein
in lieu of Saudi troops. Bin Laden considers the presence of Western troops in the
same country as Mecca and Medina a desecration of sacred land. 15
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Moves to Sudan and expands his financial network to include an Islamic bank,
a construction company, investment organizations, an agricultural business, and
export firms.
16
Sometime
during the early 1990s he founds the London-based PR organization the Advisory
and Reform Committee, distributing propaganda against the Saudi regime's
pro-Western inclinations. 17 Such
assets are suspected of funding and providing logistical support for al
Qaeda operations.
-
Bin Laden reports
a number of assassination attempts against him while in Sudan. 18
1993
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February 26: World Trade
Center is bombed, killing 6 and injuring more than 1,000. 19
The mastermind of the bombings, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef,
is later linked to the al Qaeda network. 20
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October 3-4: Operatives
of al Qaeda take part in an attack on U.S. miltary personnel on a humanitarian
mission in Somalia. 18 Americans are killed.21
1994
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Bin Laden's Saudi
citizenship is revoked. 22
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Bin Laden's family
allegedly disavows Osama, although some of his brothers have reportedly
maintained contact with him. 23
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Plots to assassinate
the pope during his visit to the Philippines and to bomb the Israeli and
American embassies in Manila are traced back to al Qaeda
through Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing. 24
1995
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Plots to assassinate
President Clinton during his visit to the Philippines and to bomb U.S. transpacific
flights are also traced back to al Qaeda through Ramzi Ahmed Yousef. 25
1996
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Under pressure from the United States and Egypt, Sudan expells bin
Laden.26
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Bin Laden moves to Afghanistan, reportedly building ties with Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
27
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Al Qaeda member
Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl defects to the United States and reveals both the extent of bin Laden's involvement
in international terrorism and the objectives of the organization. 28
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October 12: Bin Laden
issues a declaration of jihad, against what he calls the "Zionist-Crusader
alliance and their collaborators," the United States, Israel, and their allies.
29
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The United States begins negotiations
with the ruling Taliban over the extradition of bin Laden.30
1998
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February: Issues fatwa
calling for the murder of United States servicemen and civilians worldwide. 31
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June: The United States indicts
bin Laden on terrorist conspiracy charges. 32
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August 7: Al Qaeda operatives truck-bomb the United States embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 213 and injuring over 4,500. At approximately the same time, al Qaeda agents detonate a bomb in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 11. 33
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August 20: U.S. launches
cruise missile attacks against a suspected al Qaeda meeting near Khost,
Afghanistan, and a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan suspected of producing
chemical weapons.
34
Although
reportedly killing between 20 and 30 al Qaeda members, the attacks are
now largely viewed as ineffective. 35
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After the attacks
bin Laden begins to use couriers in lieu of cell phones and electronic
wire transfers to make it difficult for tech-heavy U.S. intelligence
networks to track him.
36
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Bin Laden reportedly
attempts to develop a "super-heroin" that could be used to increase addiction
and undermine stability in the Western world.37
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December 22: Bin Laden
neither denies nor accepts responsibility for the embassy bombings, but praises
the attacks and identifies himself only as a source of inspiration for
the terrorists.
38
1999
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Administration and
Treasury Department officials travel to the Middle East in an attempt to
pressure governments into freezing al Qaeda's assets, with limited results.
39
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June 7: Bin Laden
is placed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List," with a reward of $5 million
for his capture. 40
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Late December: An
individual attempting to sneak over 100 pounds of bomb-making material
into the United States is apprehended. He confesses to plotting to detonate the
materials at the Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve. He
received his training and instructions at an al Qaeda camp. 41
2000
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January 3: Al Qaeda
operatives attempt to bomb a U.S. destroyer in the Middle East, but fail
when their explosive-laden boat sinks. 42
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October 12: U.S.S. Cole bombed by a small mooring ship while docked in Aden
harbor, killing 17 and injuring 40. Perpetrators are identified as having
been trained by al Qaeda. 43
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An unidentified Afghan
group attempts to assassinate bin Laden. 44
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At his child's wedding
bin Laden recites a poem he wrote about the attacks on the Cole:
"The pieces of the bodies of the infidels were flying like dust particles /
If you had seen it with your own eyes, your heart would have been filled
with joy."45
2001
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Training videos depicting
bin Laden and others calling for attacks against American and Jewish targets
are distributed worldwide. 46
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August and September:
Bin Laden associates are instructed to return to Afghanistan before September 10.
47
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Just before September 11:
Bin Laden indicates he is preparing an upcoming attack on the United States. Known
associates of bin Laden name September 11 as the date of the attack. 48
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September 11: Two
L.A.-bound jetliners crash into the World Trade Center towers. Shortly
thereafter, another jetliner crashes into the Pentagon, and yet another,
suspected to be targeting Washington, D.C., crashes south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Nineteen men are identified as the hijackers,three of whom have
been identified as al Qaeda operatives. One of bin Laden's senior associates
is identified as planning the attack.49
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Presently thought
to be hiding in Afghanistan with three wives and 15 children as a "guest"
of the ruling Taliban. 50 Reports
suggest he is in ill health, with kidney problems. 51
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A large portion of
his wealth has been frozen by various governments and reports circulate
that he is operating at a fraction of his estimated $300 million net worth.
52
Authorities
claim to be withholding additional evidence against bin Laden as "too sensitive
to release" in an effort to maintain the integrity of any possible criminal
prosecution and to protect intelligence sources. 53
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