Usame bin Ladin
SOURCE: TIME Magazine; May 6, 1996 Volume 147, No. 19 URL:
<http://www.time.com> or <http://pathfinder.com> SECTION: WORLD
TITLE:
THE PALADIN OF JIHAD BY: SCOTT MACLEOD/KHARTOUM HIGHLIGHT:
Fearless and super-rich, Osama bin Laden finances Islamic extremism. A TIME exclusive TEXT: Osama bin Laden is a hard man to find. An exile from Saudi Arabia, he has lived in Sudan for five years, but he is a recluse, and his whereabouts are known only to his aides and a handful of Sudanese officials. To arrange to see him, I first had to track down one of bin Laden's associates in London. Then, at a tearoom near Charing Cross Station, I made a request for a meeting. Several weeks later, bin Laden sent encouragement. I traveled to Khartoum, and waited for a few days at a hotel when a message came through the front desk, The businessman will see you. A Toyota with black-tinted windows picked me up and drove me through Khartoum. Finally, after arriving at a building on the outskirts of the city, I was shown into a cramped office where several bodyguards stood watchfully. Tall, barefoot, smiling broadly, bin Laden greeted me in a gold-trimmed robe and red-checkered headdress. With an exaggerated gesture of his arms, he offered a cushion as a seat. Depending on who is to be believed, this gracious hospitality came from either a devout Muslim businessman, as bin Laden would claim, or one of the most significant financial sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world today, as the U.S. State Department describes him. The U.S. has a special interest in bin Laden because of the bombing that occurred last November at an American-run National Guard training center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Seven people were killed, including five Americans. Last week, Saudi television broadcast the confessions of four men arrested in the bombing, and they said they had been influenced by faxes sent from bin Laden's Advice and Reformation Committee. U.S. officials investigating the bombing believe bin Laden's involvement may have gone further, and one says he is high on our suspect list. Although virtually unknown in the West, bin Laden is a towering figure among Islamic fundamentalists. His late father rose from peasant origins in Yemen to become Saudi Arabia's richest construction magnate. The family's wealth is estimated at $5 billion, and at 38, Osama bin Laden personally controls a fortune of perhaps $300 million. In the 1980s he became famous in Islamic circles for his heroic role fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan as one of the main leaders of the Arab volunteers. A few years after the war, he went into exile in Sudan, where he runs several businesses--a construction firm, a farm that produces sunflower seeds, a tannery that exports goat hides to Italy. But his resume doesn't end there. Bin Laden has become prominent in the embryonic Islamic movement aimed at toppling the pro-Western monarchy in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, security officials in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. suspect that he has become a central participant in a loose network that provides funds for Islamic terrorists. Rather than depending solely on states like Sudan, Iran or Libya, this group's jihad is being coordinated and underwritten by individuals as well. In addition to making his own financial contributions, bin Laden plays another role, several sources believe: he raises money from Islamic businessmen, mainly in the Gulf, runs it through companies in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East and eventually funnels it to holy warriors in various countries. There was a time when people thought that any support for international terrorism must be state-centered, says a scholar in London. The bin Laden phenomenon is an illustration of the privatization of the support of terrorism. At his office near Khartoum, bin Laden acknowledges his political opposition to the House of Saud, but belittles the terrorism charges. During the long conversation--interrupted twice for prayers--he explained the accusations against him by saying, The Egyptians would catch somebody who would say, 'I was trained in bin Laden's camp.' These camps were set up to help the Afghans, but suddenly the Egyptian media is blaming me for anything that happens. It's like blaming a university for students who graduate and go perform bad deeds. So far no one has produced conclusive evidence of bin Laden's involvement with terrorism. Nevertheless, investigators are tracking him closely. Sources in the West and Middle East have told TIME the following: --Last December, British police raided the London residence of an Algerian named Rachid Ramda and found communications from the Armed Islamic Group, an Algerian organization suspected in seven bombings in France that killed seven and wounded 180 last year. The police also discovered records of wire-fund transfers and traced them to bin Laden's headquarters in Khartoum. --Also in December, Egyptian security offficials uncovered a conspiracy by the extremist group Islamic Jihad to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak. Based on interrogations, which may have included torture, Egyptian authorities are now investigating an informant's tip that bin Laden helped fund the plot. --Relying on confessions by suspected terrorists, Egyptian security officials also allege that bin Laden is the major financier of a camp in Afghanistan called Kunar that provides training for recruits of Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Group, both Egyptian terrorist organizations. --Citing its own intelligence sources, the U.S. State Department claims that bin Laden helps fund three terrorist training camps in northern Sudan. Extremists from Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia receive instruction at the camps. --In 1992 two hotel bombs in Aden killed two Austrian tourists and narrowly missed 100 U.S. servicemen en route to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope. The U.S. State Department says bin Laden was implicated by suspects as the bankroller behind both bombings. Growing up in Saudi Arabia near the Red Sea, bin Laden struck those around him as an ordinary young man. But he was more pious than his brothers, and was deeply affected by the involvement of his family's company in rebuilding the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina. Then in 1979, just after he graduated from King Abdul Aziz University, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and mujahedin resistance fighters put out an international plea for help. Bin Laden responded by packing himself and several of his family's bulldozers off to central Asia. He was inspired, he said, by the plight of Muslims in a medieval society besieged by a 20th century superpower. In our religion, there is a special place in the hereafter for those who participate in jihad, he told TIME. One day in Afghanistan was like 1,000 days of praying in an ordinary mosque. At first his work was political. He recruited thousands of Arab fighters in the Gulf, paid for their passage to Afghanistan and set up the main guerrilla camp to train them. Later he designed and constructed defensive tunnels and ditches along the Pakistani border, driving a bulldozer and exposing himself to strafing from Soviet helicopter gunships. Before long, he had taken up a Kalashnikov and was going into battle. In 1986 he and a few dozen Arab defenders fought off a Soviet onslaught in a town called Jaji, not far from the Pakistani border. To Arabs, it was one of the first demonstrations that the Russians could actually be beaten. A year later, bin Laden led an offensive against Soviet troops in the battle of Shaban. Vicious hand-to-hand fighting claimed heavy mujahedin casualties, but his men succeeded in pushing the Soviets out of the area. He was a hero to us because he was always on the front line, always moving ahead of everybody else, recalls Hamza Mohammed, a Palestinian volunteer in Afghanistan who now manages one of bin Laden's construction projects in Sudan. He not only gave his money, but he also gave himself. He came down from his palace to live with the Afghan peasants and the Arab fighters. He cooked with them, ate with them, dug trenches with them. That was bin Laden's way. Bin Laden returned home to discover that he had become a celebrity. But his star appeal swiftly faded when he began denouncing the Saudi regime. The government had already come under criticism from Muslim activists for its corruption and its failure to adhere strictly to Islamic law. All these failings offended bin Laden. But the real apostasy was King Fahd's decision to allow Western troops into the kingdom during the Gulf War. In bin Laden's view, armed infidels in the holy land were a desecration of Islam. After publicly criticizing the regime and becoming the target of a harassment campaign, he fled to Sudan in 1991. A sizable contingent of Afghan Arabs--Arabs from various countries who fought in Afghanistan--followed him and found work with his companies. Now bin Laden runs his farms and his businesses in Sudan, criticizes the Saudi government from afar, and, he says, gives money for charities. He suggested a second meeting, this time at his small, walled farm on the bank of the Blue Nile south of Khartoum. At the farm, he made a point of claiming that the Egyptians had cited it as a terrorist camp. All that could be seen were a few horses, cows and goats. Take pictures of whatever you like, bin Laden said with a smile. Sitting cross-legged on the ground next to the stables, he refused to speak about a number of issues, including his exact links with the governments of Sudan and Iran or with convicted terrorists like Egyptian Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, now in a U.S. prison. However, he disavowed any involvement in the Riyadh bombing and the recent suicide attacks in Israel. It is no surprise to me that corrupt regimes would make such charges, he says. Despite his denials, bin Laden remains a grave concern to those corrupt regimes. He is, as a U.S. official said, a big fish, since his heroic reputation gives him influence. According to this official, Bin Laden is the kind of guy who can go to someone and say, 'I need you to write out a six-figure check,' and he gets it on the spot. He hits up Islamic businessmen who in some cases may not know where their money is going. A lot of it isn't going to rebuild mosques in Bosnia or feed starving Muslims in Somalia. A lot of it is going to set up camps and support networks and procure material for terrorist operations. The Saudi government has stripped bin Laden of his citizenship, Britain has forbidden him to enter the country, the U.S. has made serious allegations against him, but so far no one has charged him with any crime. In his conversations with TIME, he gave a warning to those who would continue to pursue him. People are supposed to be innocent until proved guilty, he said. Well, not the Afghan fighters. They are the 'terrorists of the world.' But pushing them against the wall will do nothing, except increase the terrorism. --
With reporting by Dean Fischer/Washington and Helen Gibson/London
Standing Terrorism Warning for Travelers
The United States Military completed the first attacks on terrorist related facilities in August 1998. Three targets were in Afghanistan with association to terrorist financier Usama Bin Laden. These sites housed an estimated 600 known terrorist trainees based 95 km south of Kabul. In Khartoum, Sudan a chemical weapons pre-cursor production facility was destroyed. This site was considered a prime source of chemical weapons for terrorist use.
Terrorist leader Usama Bin Laden has four times publicly called on Moslems to attack US and British Citizens
Westerners in or near Afghanistan, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Chad, Yemen and The Gulf States (Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Oman) should take the utmost caution and personal protection measures when traveling.
Reactionary attacks have occurred in the past and as these retaliatory strikes continue may precipitate revenge attacks against easy targets including US citizens and businesses.
Retaliatory Attacks (all 1998):
20 Aug - Afghanistan - Italian UN worker Killed, Frenchman Wounded in Kabul
23 Aug - Albania - Albanian Policeman killed attempting to penetrate US Embassy security
24 Aug - South Africa - "Planet Hollywood" restaurant bombed. 20 Injured. 2 killed
25 Aug - Uganda - 31 Killed in Bus bombings>
27 Aug - Israel - Pipe bomb Explodes in Tel Aviv injuring 20
30 Aug - Pakistan - "60 Minutes" Cameraman found murdered after attempting to go to Afghanistan
Dec 28 - Yemen - 4 Tourist Killed in Tour Bus Hijackingg
Bin Laden Vows To Continue Holy War Against U.S. - Jun 11,1999 - Exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, one of Washington's most wanted men, said in a televised interview Thursday his mission was to incite Muslims to rebel against the American ``occupation'' of Saudi Arabia. ``We are seeking to incite the (Islamic) nation to rise up to liberate its land and to (conduct) jihad (holy war) for the sake of God,'' bin Laden told Qatar's al-Jazeera satellite television station. Bin Laden, who was added to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's ``10 Most Wanted'' list this week, was speaking to the Qatar-based television station from an undisclosed location. Dressed in a flowing white tunic and trousers and a camouflage jacket and sitting in a tent surrounded by machine guns, bin Laden said he was fighting against the ''Crusader-Jewish aggression'' against the ``land of Islam'' that included the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, Islam's holiest sites. ``We are demanding the liberation of our land from the enemy, that our land be liberated from the Americans,'' bin Laden said. The elusive Islamist zealot is against U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia because of American support for Israel and the ''occupation'' of the kingdom. ``Every American man is an enemy to us,'' he told al-Jazeera. Bin Laden has been indicted in the United States for allegedly masterminding the August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed more than 200 people. (Reuters)
Record US reward for Bin Laden - Jun 8, 1999 - The United States is offering a five million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of Osama Bin Laden - the man it accuses of being behind last year's bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Over two hundred people were killed. It's the largest reward Washington has ever offered for a suspect. Saudi-born Bin Laden has also been placed on Americans' list of ten most wanted fugitives. The director of the FBI, Louis Freeh, accused Bin Laden of heading an organisation capable and willing to inflict large-scale, random violence. His whereabouts are not known - Americans say he may be in Afghanistan. (BBC)
Terrorism Alert - Islamic Militant Expects Attacks - Jun 28, 1999 - An Egyptian militant has warned that Islamic fundamentalists will launch attacks on American facilities and advised Britain to distance itself from the United States, a London-based Arabic newspaper reported today. ``America is still the direct and number one enemy of the Arab and Islamic nations,'' Yasser Tawfiq el-Siri told Al Hayat daily. El-Siri, who heads a London human rights unit called the Islamic Observation Center, referred to a February 1998 fatwa, or edict, calling on Muslims to attack U.S. facilities. The fatwa was issued by the International Islamic Front to Fight Jews and Christians, which was formed by Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden. ``The fatwa is addressed to all Muslims, therefore any Muslim in any place in the world is expected to carry out the order, even if he is not a member of the front,'' El-Siri said. Last week U.S. intelligence officials said they believe bin Laden is in the final stages of planning another attack on U.S. facilities. He is blamed by the United States for the deadly 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Citing a possible security threat, the United States on Thursday temporarily closed six of its embassies in Africa. Britain closed four of its African embassies the next day. El-Siri ruled out the possibility of an imminent attack on British interests worldwide. ``Britain, until now, has not reached the state of being a direct enemy of the Islamic movements,'' he said. However, he warned the British government that ``the continuation of the subordination policy to the United States will only bring trouble for the British people.'' El-Siri said he does not expect a fair trial for those accused in the U.S. embassy bombings. ``(The case) is nothing more than a scenario drawn up in the White House to be implemented later by American judges,'' he said. El-Siri is one of Egypt's most wanted men, having been sentenced to death in absentia in 1994 for taking part in a 1993 bid to assassinate then-Prime Minister Atef Sedki. (AP)
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Washington D.C. |
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U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation |
Today, the FBI is placing two new fugitives on its "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list. These two men, James Charles Kopp and Usama Bin Laden, have both committed egregious and violent acts which resulted in the death of an American doctor in New York and numerous Embassy employees overseas, respectively. In taking this action, the FBI reaffirms its commitment to the prevention of all violent activities and reemphasizes the high priority level which the FBI maintains in its efforts to arrest those individuals responsible for such violence.
James Charles Kopp, the first new addition to the top ten list, is charged with the fatal shooting of Dr. Barnett Slepian, a well-known doctor and provider of abortions in Western New York State. On October 23, 1998, a single bullet entered the Slepian home in Amherst, New York, through a rear window. This bullet, fired from a wooded area behind the Slepian residence, was responsible for the doctor's death. He left behind a wife and four young sons.
James Charles Kopp is described as a white male, 5' 11", 150 to 175 pounds, with red/brown hair and blue/gray eyes. He was born in Pasadena, California, on August 2, 1954. He has a scar on the top of his left hand near his thumb. Kopp wears eyeglasses, walks with a slight limp, and may have back problems. He has also been known to have a beard and moustache.
Kopp has not been seen since November 3, 1998. He purports to be a devout Roman Catholic who is very active in the Pro-Life Movement. James Charles Kopp has no known permanent address and has traveled extensively throughout the United States and internationally, to include countries in South America, Asia, Europe, and North America.
James Charles Kopp has been charged in the Western District of New York with the use of deadly force to prevent a doctor from providing reproductive health services in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE, Act. He now becomes the 455th person to be placed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List", and the first to do so on charges stemming from the FACE Act. He replaces Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi whom the Libyan Government turned over to Dutch authorities on April 5, 1999, to stand trial for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.
Usama Bin Laden, the second new addition to the top ten list, is charged in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. These acts of international terrorism resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people and the wounding of more than 4,000 individuals. His terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, or "The Base," is extensive and has the capability and willingness to inflict large-scale, random violence.
Usama Bin Laden was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on November 4, 1998, in the Southern District of New York, on charges of Murder of U.S. Nationals Outside the United States, Conspiracy to Murder U.S. Nationals Outside the United States, and Attacks on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death. As a result of the two Embassy bombings, twelve Americans lost their lives.
Bin Laden was born in 1957 in Saudi Arabia. He is described as an Arab male, 6' 4" to 6' 6", approximately 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has an olive complexion and a thin build. Bin Laden is known to walk with a cane.
The activities of Usama Bin Laden and his associates remain a serious concern. The FBI continues to receive a high number of threats from individuals and organizations with ties to Bin Laden. Although there is no specific, corroborated threat information, the number of threats received, the standing "Fatwas" from Bin Laden, his indictment for crimes relating to the East Africa bombings, and this Top Ten release all heighten the potential for terrorism by Al-Qaeda.
Usama Bin Laden now becomes the 456th person to be named to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list, which began in 1950. Since then, 427 fugitives have been apprehended or located, 133 of them as a result of citizen assistance. He replaces Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, the other suspect wanted in connection with the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 who was also turned over to Dutch authorities.
The U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. This reward is the largest amount ever offered for a fugitive wanted by the U.S. Government. It reflects the determination of the entire law enforcement community to join forces in the fight against international terrorism. This fight would not be complete without the cooperation of the public.
As in the past, the public's support remains invaluable in the assistance to law enforcement officials. The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive program is utilized as an investigative tool, affording the general public the opportunity to participate in the search for fugitives. Without the public's assistance, the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program would not have been nearly as successful in removing the most violent and dangerous criminals from our streets. The media also plays an invaluable role in the hunt for these fugitives by transforming any home that has a television or receives a newspaper into a latter-day "post office", previously the only site where wanted posters were found. In addition, the convergence of technology and globalization has enabled and caused us to establish our own world-wide "post office" -- the FBI Home Page (www.fbi.gov), on which the Top Ten fugitives and others are profiled. Our home page receives approximately 30 million "hits" per month from people living all over the world.
Anyone with information concerning either James Charles Kopp or Usama Bin Laden should take no action themselves, but instead immediately contact the nearest FBI office or local law enforcement agency. For any possible sighting outside the United States, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Both individuals should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.
Afghanistan - The Target Camps
The Training Facilities - The three training facilities comprised the department of defense designation "ZAHWAR KALI AL BADR Terrorist Training complex". This complex operated throughout the Afghanistan war as a facility for training "Afghan Arabs," the Mujahideen volunteers from Arabic speaking countries. The Bin Laden Group known as Al-Qadr referred to it as the "Muhayamat Harakat Al-Jihad Al Islami" or "Islamic Jihad Movements Camp." These facilities are located in the vicinity of Khow-e-ashrow (Khowt), which is approximately 95 miles south-southeast of Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan.
1) Zahwar Kali al-Badr Base camp -The base camp is the main headquarters facility for the complex, which included storage for weapons and equipment, barracks and housing, command level training and operations administration facilities which support the HQ and other sections of the complex. The Secretary of Defense referred to this facility as the "the key command and control node." It is suspected that this is the facility which may have housed the leaders of a terrorist summit.
2) Zahwar Kali al-Badr Training camp - Used for training terrorist tactics, indoctrination, weapons and the use of improvised explosive devices.
3) Zahwar Kali al-Badr Support complex - The support camp is the primary logistics area for the complex, it includes weapons and ammunitions storage in several hardened bunkers which can be seen as depressions on the imagery. Food, water and fuels (POL) fall under their operations control.
Terrorist Organizations Supported at this Camp
"Al-Qaeda, Al-Qadr (a.k.a. Bin Laden Group - BLG) - The primary terrorist organization of the Bin Laden Group (BLG) seeks to topple the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Inspired by the Iranian Fundamentalist revolution, though Sunni, Al-Qadr wants to establish an Islamic Fundamentalist government on the entire Arabian Peninsula including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar the UAE , Yemen and Oman. They additionally seek to export the revolution to other Moslem nations including deployment of tactical commanders and terrorist cell logisticians/intelligence personnel to Chechnya, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kashmir, Daghestan, Tajikistan and the United States. The press is reporting that law enforcement sources refer to the BLG as "Al-Qaeda" which is Arabic for "The Command, the (military) Base, facility or the Commander." This is a direct translation of the vocabulary being used by terrorists who were interrogated and refered to the BLG as "the command" as used in the phrase "Chain-of-Command" or as "the Base" such as the Zawar Kili Base Camp. Another name which is probably more accurate is the name "Al-Qadr" which has special significance in Islam and among professional Mujahideen. See analysis below.
Meaning of the Organizational Name "Al-Qadr"
Qadr is an Arabic word with the Qu'ranic meaning related to the 97th Surat entitled: Lailatul Qadr (The Night of Power) .
Lailatul Qadr is the crowning glory of the holy month of Ramadan. It is associated with the sending down of the "Qur'an Majeed", the last Book of Allah to the Prophet Muhammad as guidance for mankind.
According to the Islamic Information page (An excellent on-line source of Qu'ranic information) The Qur'an Majeed (see the Arabic excerpt listed below) describes this Night. For a more exact line by line translation click Here
"We have indeed revealed this (message) in the Night of Power: And what will explain to you what the Night of Power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the Angels and the Spirit (Jibraeel) by Allah's permission, on every errand: Peace! This until the rise of Morn!" (597: V1-5).
The "Night of Power" (Al-Qadr) is the night of spiritual bliss. The Prophet Mohammed is reported to have said concerning Ramadan:
"Verily this month has come to you; and therein is a night which is better than a thousand Months. Whosoever is deprived of it, is deprived of all good; and none is deprived of its good except a totally unfortunate person". (Ibn Majah). "Whosoever stands up (in prayer) at the Night of Power out of faith and hopeful of reward, all his past sins will be forgiven." (Targhib)