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Special Feature

Osama bin Laden - Prime suspect

Legend has it that he's the most wired terrorist ever, running a jihad via satellite phones and modems from a Batcave deep in the mountains of Afghanistan. "Inside the cave, in rooms hollowed into the rock face, computer screens glow, fax machines whirr, messages are sent via satellite telephone," wrote the Newark Star Ledger on August 21, in a vivid account of the superterrorist's lair. Osama Bin Laden and the United States have kept each other in their respective eysights for almost all the 1990's. If American officials are proved correct, he might be the hand behind the most atrocious terrorist act in modern history. Origins Bin Laden left his homeland, Saudi Arabia, in 1991 after a dispute with the Saudi monarchy. He took with him rich treasure inherited from his father to finance the war he was to wage against a new enemy, the United States, whose presence in the country after the Gulf War constituted an "occupation of the land of the holy places." His history of attacks against the U.S. earned him an entry in the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive list since 1999, and the U.S. State Department has offered a $5 million (Lm2 milion) reward for his arrest. U.S. prosecutors say bin Laden is the leader of al Qaeda (Arabic for "the Base"), a worldwide network blamed for both successful and failed strikes on U.S. targets. These include the millennium bombing plot, last year's attack on the USS Cole in Yemen and the nearly simultaneous bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. In 1996, bin Laden issued a "fatwah," a religious ruling urging Muslims to kill U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and Somalia. A second fatwah in 1998 called for attacks on American civilians. Bin Laden's first active appearance on the military scene came in the late 1970's in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Army alongside Afghan muslim resistance fighters known as the mujahedeen. The Taleban Islamic fundamentalist government of Afghnistan is allegedly harbouring him today. His input in the war against the Soviets left its mark and when this was drawing to a close with the Soviert withdrawal, bin Laden formed al Qaeda, an organization of former mujahedeen and other supporters channeling fighters and funds to the Afghan resistance. With the war in Afghanistan over, bin Laden made a return to his homeland to work for the family construction firm, the Bin Laden Group. He became involved in Saudi groups opposed to the reigning Saudi monarchy, the Fahd family. In 1994, the Saudi government stripped him of his citizenship and froze his assets in the country. He fled to Sudan. Recent activities Although the Afghan war had ended, al Qaeda has remained a formidable organization consisting of mujahedin of many nationalities who had previously fought with Bin Laden. Many of these have remained loyal to and continue working with him today. In May 1996, Sudan expelled Bin Laden, largely in response to U.S. insistence and to the threat of UN sanctions following Sudan's alleged complicity in the attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995. Within a month, Bin Laden took refuge in Afghanistan, where his support for and participation in Islamic extremist activities continued. Bin Laden's Organization Al-Qa'ida's goal, in Bin Laden's words, is to "unite all Muslims and to establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs." Bin Laden has stated that the only way to establish the Caliphate is by force. Al-Qa'ida's goal, therefore, is to overthrow nearly all Muslim governments, which Bin Laden views as "corrupt," to drive Western influence from those countries, and eventually to abolish state boundaries. Al Qaeda is multi-national, with members from numerous countries and with a worldwide presence. Senior leaders in the organization are also senior leaders in other terrorist organizations, including those designated by the Department of State as foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Al Qaeda seeks a global radicalization of existing Islamic groups and the creation of radical Islamic groups where none exist. Al Qaeda supports Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen, and now Kosovo. It also trains members of terrorist organizations from such diverse countries as the Philippines, Algeria, and Eritrea. Anti-U.S. Agenda Bin Laden advocates the destruction of the United States, which he sees as the chief obstacle to reform in Muslim societies. Since 1996, his anti-U.S. rhetoric has escalated to the point of calling for worldwide attacks on Americans and our allies, including civilians. Bin Laden publicly issued his "Declaration of War" against the United States in August 1996. When anti-U.S. attacks did not materialize immediately, he explained the delay: "If we wanted to carry out small operations, it would have been easy to do so immediately after the statements. Even the nature of the battle requires good preparation." In November 1996 he pronounced as "praiseworthy terrorism" the bombings in Riyadh and at Khobar in Saudi Arabia, promising that other attacks would follow. He admitted carrying out attacks on U.S. military personnel in Somalia and Yemen, declaring that "we used to hunt them down in Mogadishu." He stated in an interview broadcast in February 1997 that "if someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters." In February 1998, Bin Laden announced the creation of a new alliance of terrorist organizations, the "International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders." The Front included the Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Harakat ul-Ansar, and two other groups. The Front declared its intention to attack Americans and our allies, including civilians, anywhere in the world. In May 1998, he stated at a press conference in Afghanistan that we would see the results of his threats "in a few weeks." [source: MaltaMedia, U.S. Department of Defense, CNN]

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