![]() ![]() So here you have this confluence of interest of a newly emerged Islamic state, and a newly emerged, subnational, loosely affiliated collection of people that we now know as al-Qaida."īut as bin Laden's influence grew, the U.S., the United Nations and Saudi Arabia all began pressuring Sudan's government to force him out. "Here is where the modern-day bin Laden really comes to the front," Parachini said, "because it's he, with his considerable wealth, operating in a weak state. John Parachini said those years, from 1991 to '96, were a critical time. So he left, and spent the next five years in exile in Sudan. Bin Laden's passport - and eventually his citizenship - was revoked. But his relations with the country's leaders soon soured. ![]() In 1989, when the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, bin Laden went home to Saudi Arabia. Millions of Muslims who don't support violent jihad still saw bin Laden as the most capable voice speaking out against corrupt national leaders and the West. Bin Laden has presented himself as the embodiment of the Salafi movement - a spiritual leader, for whom war is a religious obligation, wherever Muslims are being oppressed. They want a return to the "pure Islam" practiced by the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors. Salafis believe that over the centuries, the message of Islam has been corrupted. "In this period, there is an awakening throughout the Islamic world about fighting a great struggle - beyond the struggle that many fundamentalist Islamic groups were fighting in their own nations," Parachini said.įor bin Laden, that struggle found expression within the Salafi movement. John Parachini, an expert on terrorism at the Rand Corp., said for bin Laden and millions of other Muslims, those years created a movement. The war in Afghanistan lasted 10 years - basically the whole of the 1980s. He traveled to the region, raised money from other wealthy Muslims to finance the fight and engaged in at least one battle himself. The fight against the Soviets, following Moscow's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, was a defining struggle in bin Laden's life. President Obama announced that bin Laden is dead. In this 1998 file photo made available in March 2004, Osama bin Laden speaks to journalists in Khost, Afghanistan. Peter Bergen, who has written extensively about al-Qaida, said bin Laden's years at King Abdul-Aziz University exposed him to influential Islamist thinkers. The young bin Laden may have gotten his first taste of radical Islamist theory at university, in Jeddah. Bin Laden grew up playing soccer, riding horses and running. His father made a fortune in the construction industry in Saudi Arabia. He was the 17th of 57 children, according to research by the 9/11 Commission. According to the translation provided by the Pentagon, bin Laden makes clear he played a direct role in engineering the attacks.īin Laden is believed to have been born in 1957. officials produced what they called a "smoking gun" - a video, showing bin Laden in his trademark camouflage jacket and white cap, lounging on a flowered sofa. President Bush said he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive."īin Laden at first denied responsibility for the attacks. officials were pointing to bin Laden as the prime suspect. In telling the story of Osama bin Laden, a logical starting point is the day he must consider his greatest triumph - Sept. ![]()
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