Page 98 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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72———Bin Laden, Osama (1957– )

arguably the most influential radical Islamic thinker royal family. Indeed, he spoke at countless mosques
in history. and other gatherings, where he was fiercely critical of
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on government policies, including what he perceived to
December 26, 1979, 22-year-old bin Laden left his be the improper interpretation of Islam. His opposi-
wealthy existence in Saudi Arabia and joined the tion intensified in 1991, when American troops landed
thousands of Muslims who answered the call for in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield. Their
jihad, commonly translated as “holy war,” to defend very presence offended bin Laden, who believed that
Afghanistan. With his inheritance, bin Laden began the Prophet prohibited “infidels” from setting foot on
organizing and financing mujahideen activities for the the land of Islam’s two holiest sites. “By being loyal
fight against the Soviets. He purchased weapons, built to the U.S. regime,” bin Laden said, “the Saudi regime
training camps, dug trenches, paved roads, and devel- has committed an act against Islam.” Thousands of
oped other infrastructure. His money also provided tapes of his speeches were circulated around the Saudi
food and medicines to fellow fighters. Reports also kingdom.
indicate that bin Laden fought in several battles, Due to rising tensions with the royal family, in
where he demonstrated bravery to fellow mujahideen. April 1991 bin Laden left Saudi Arabia with his family
More important perhaps is the fact that bin Laden, (by then he had several wives and many children) and
in cooperation with a Palestinian member of the moved to Sudan, where a militant Islamic government
Muslim Brotherhood named Abdallah Azzam, had taken power two years prior. With his inheritance,
founded Maktab al-Khidamat (the Services Office) bin Laden invested heavily in the poor country, estab-
in 1984. The Services Office recruited thousands lishing several legitimate businesses, including a
of jihad fighters from all over the world to join the major construction company. In addition, bin Laden
war, placed them in more than a dozen “guest houses” established at least three terrorist training camps in
around neighboring Pakistan, and trained them in northern Sudan, where experts taught terrorist and
special camps that bin Laden paid for. guerrilla tactics to the Egyptian Al Jihad and Gama’a
When the Soviets retreated on February 15, 1989, al-Islamiyya, the Iranian-funded Hezbollah from
the mujahideen, and their CIA financiers, declared vic- Lebanon, and Sudan’s National Islamic Front, as
tory. Indeed, many of the mujahideen of Afghanistan well as jihad groups from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and
were bankrolled and trained by the CIA. It is unlikely, Somalia. He sent these trained militants to the
however, that bin Laden was among them. In fact, he Balkans, Chechnya, and other theatres where Muslims
insists he had no contact with U.S. intelligence, and were in conflict.
numerous U.S. sources corroborate this assertion. All the while, bin Laden was considered an
increasingly dangerous threat to the Saudis. He
formed the Advice and Reform Council—a group that
BUILDING AL QAEDA
condemned the Saudi regime and sought to destabi-
On November 24, 1989, Azzam was killed by a lize it. In addition to several reported assassination
powerful car bomb. Though crestfallen, bin Laden attempts by Saudi intelligence, the Saudis froze his
decided to continue the work the two had started assets in 1993 (valued at more than $200 million).
together. With the help of careful records he kept in Soon after, in 1994, bin Laden renounced his Saudi
the training camps and guest houses of the Services citizenship, making bin Laden a renegade not only
Office, bin Laden launched a militant Islamic network from his homeland but also from his family, which
called Al Qaeda, or the base. It was simply a collec- continued to publicly distance itself from him.
tion of the thousands of radical Muslims that he and All the while, Al Qaeda continued to grow. Its first
Azzam had financed and trained, who were commit- attacks against America were reported at two hotels
ted to carrying out jihad activities elsewhere around in Yemen, where bombs exploded and killed several
the globe. Indeed, these mujahideen returned to their tourists. The bombs were probably intended to kill
homes and established secret cells, and began guer- American troops on their way to a humanitarian mission
rilla campaigns against regimes they considered in Somalia. Al Qaeda caught up with those U.S. service-
heretical. men on October 3, 1993, when 18 American soldiers
With Al Qaeda launched, bin Laden returned home were shot down over Mogadishu in Somalia. They
to his native Saudi Arabia in 1990, whereupon he were killed by local guerrillas trained by Al Qaeda
assumed the role of activist in opposition to the Saudi operatives. Bin Laden was also said to have links to the