Sheik Usamah Bin-Muhammad Bin Laden
He fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan, he participated in the
battles of the Jalalabad with the Arab mujahedin and now he is fighting
a new battle or "Jihad"; with the U.S.
In the pas three years,
he has issued three fatwa’s declaring war on the American forces in
Saudi Arabia. In these same three years, 24 Americans have died in two
vicious bombings at US installations in the citties of Riyadh and
Al-Khobar.
Evidence continues ot mount against the one
individual, who has worth of more than $250M, that he is not only the
financier in the bombings, but also personally ordered them as well.
Usama
Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin was born in the city of Riyadh in 1957 and
raised in Al-Madina, Al-Munawwara and Hijaz. He recieved his education
in the schools of Jeddah before studying management and economics in
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah.
While growing up, he
developed a strong Muslim belief of Islamic law. From this belief
emerged the necessity fir arned preceded by Da’wa and military
preparation in order to repel the greater Kurf, and to cooperate with
Muslims in order to unite their world under the banner of monotheism,
and to set aside division and differences. His great struggle began in
1973 when he started interacting with a number of Islamic groups and
would continue for several years. During this time he also acquired his
personal fortune running the family construction business.
A
short time after Jan. 11, 1979, when soviet trrops invaded Afganistan,
Bin-Laden left his family’s business and set about gathering together
his fortune to fund recruitment, transportation and training of a
volunteer force of Arab nationals to fight alongside, the existing
Afghan mujahedin. He felt that it was his sense of duty to do so, since
the Soviets actions had deeply offended him as a Muslim. His new
volunteer group was named "The Islamic Salvation Front."
When
the Soviet Union was forced out of Afghanistan in 1989, Bin-Laden
returned to the family construction business. As for his Islamic
Salvation Front, its aid which had been coming from the United States
to fight the Soviets has ended, and was disbanded. In recent years,
Bin-Laden has down played the U.S. involvement in his victory against
the Soviets, to ensure most of the credibility for the sucess rests
with him and his forces.
Bin-Laden was dealt a severe blow from
his homeland in 1994 when the Saudi Arabian government seized his
passport after Egypt, Algeria and Yemen accused him financing
subversive activities. This forced him to flee for Sudan, where the
National Islamic Front (NIF) leader Hassan Al-Turabi welcomed him.
While
residing in Sudan, Bin-Laden financed and help set up at least three
terorrist training camps in cooperation with the NIF, and his
construction company worked directly with Sudanese military officials
to transport and supply training in such camps.
But in May 1996,
he suffered another blow when the Sudanese officials, for "harming the
image" of the country, expelled him. Bin-Laden maintained in several
interviews that he left out more of mere courtesy to Sudanese
authorities.
From May 1996 onwards, the exact whereabouts of
Bin-Laden remains a msytery. Rumours ranged from him living in Yemen,
to him living in Saudi Arabia with a false passport, to him being
captured in Afghanistan. His exact location has not iften been
substantiated. He is known to have given interviews at a remote,
well-guarded, camp in Afghanistan on at least two occasions.
His
known activities have been established during interviews, mainly with
Middle-Eastern reporters and on three occasions of the release of
Fatwa’s in April 1996, February 1997, and February 1998. Each one
threatened a Holy War (Jihad) against the US forces in Saudi Arabia and
the Holy Lands, each one called for Muslims to concentrate on
"destroying, fighting and killing the enemy."
