The Bin Ladens Read online

11. Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 222. Prince’s identity: Osama says it was the “deputy minister,” who at the time of the meeting would have been Abdul-Rahman, but at the time of Osama’s statement, the deputy was Khalid Bin Sultan.

  12. Messages to the World, op. cit., p. 257.

  13. “This shy…changed”: Quoted in Meeting Osama Bin Laden, op. cit.

  14. Affidavit of Omar Bin Laden, In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit. All quotations from the U.S. military are from documents submitted by Bin Laden attorneys in In Re Terrorist Attacks.

  15. Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, p. 168.

  16. Ibid., p. 167. Also, Fandy, Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent, pp. 48–52.

  17. “He apologized…peaceful way”: Interview with Abdulaziz Al-Gasim, February 8, 2005.

  18. Interview with Jamal Khashoggi, March 17, 2006. All quotations from Khashoggi, “To Be Strong by Spreading Fear,” Al Watan Al Arabi, April 5, 2005.

  19. May 1: Messages to the World, op. cit. p. 33. Left voluntarily: Affidavit of Bakr Bin Laden, In Re Terrorist Attacks, January 25, 2006. Sudan rentals, farm north of Khartoum, $250,000, Egyptian lawyer: Testimony of Jamal Al-Fadl, United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., United States District Court, Southern District of New York, S 98 Cr. 539, February 6, 2001. “spent some time…economic activities”: Interview with Khalil A. Khalil, February 10, 2005.

  20. Messages to the World, pp. 49–50.

  21. All Bruderlein quotations from Affidavit of Yves Bruderlein, In Re Terrorist Attacks, January 24, 2006, and “Minutes of a Witness Statement,” The Office of the Swiss Federal Public Prosecutor, Bern, October 9, 2001, submitted as an exhibit in the same case.

  22. Affidavit of Bakr Bin Laden, op. cit.

  23. October 28 transfer: Account documents, op. cit., In Re Terrorist Attacks. Money went initially to Haider’s custody: Interview with two individuals familiar with the transaction, who asked to not be identified. Last known use of Western banks: Michael Scheuer, writing as “Anonymous,” the former chief of the CIA unit that tracked Osama’s finances during the late 1990s, writes in Through Our Enemies’ Eyes, p. 35: “My own pre–11 September 2001 research found no data showing that any money tied directly to Bin Laden had been located, blocked or seized in the West’s [banking and financial] system.”

  28. A ROLLS-ROYCE IN THE RAIN

  1. All quotations from the beginning of the chapter through “adequate” are from “Declaration of Christine Binladin,” February 18, 1992, filed in Christine Binladin v. Ibrahim Binladin, BD058156, Los Angeles County Superior Court.

  2. Ibrahim with Dodi Fayed: Interview with Jack Kayajanian, August 25, 2005; Kayajanian represented Christine after her divorce litigation resumed in 2002. Never filed a tax return: Christine’s “Trial Brief,” Binladin v. Binladin, op. cit. “a very…young lady”: Telephone interview with Michael Balaban, June 15, 2005. Denim and Diamonds: Décor described in Time, March 15, 1993.

  3. Interview with Balaban, ibid. Representatives for McCartney did not respond to requests for comment.

  4. “In the end…pay for this’ and Ibrahim’s comments about work: Interview with an employee of the Bin Ladens who asked to not be identified.

  5. An unsigned copy of the agreement was filed in Binladin v. Binladin, op. cit.

  6. Christine’s excerpted deposition testimony, ibid.

  7. Consecrated under Islamic law: “Final Divorce Judgment,” July 6, 1993, ibid. “and the wine…sight!”: Freeman, “The Saudi Connection,” unpublished manuscript.

  8. All quotations in this passage from Ibrahim’s excerpted deposition testimony, Binladin v. Binladin, op. cit.

  9. “Declaration of Christine Binladin,” December 1992, ibid.

  10. “I see very…unhappy man”: “Declaration of Ibrahim Binladin,” December 22, 1992, ibid.

  11. Christine’s excerpted deposition testimony, op. cit.

  12. “Declaration of Ibrahim Binladin,” op. cit.

  13. “She only started…from me”: “Declaration of Ibrahim Binladin,” ibid. “remained with…long enough”: “Respondent’s Memorandum of Points and Authorities For Trial,” January 21, 1993, ibid.

  29. THE CONSTRUCTION OF EXILE

  1. Contract in 1989: Affidavit of Omar Bin Laden, January 25, 2006, In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 03 MDL 1570. Contract price, role of Saudi Overseas Development Fund: Okaz, June 25, 1992, translated and filed in the same case by Bin Laden attorneys.

  2. Testimony of Jamal Al-Fadl, United States of America v. Usama bin Laden et al., United States District Court, Southern District of New York, S 98 Cr. 539, February 6, 2001.

  3. Bosnia fundraiser: Arab News, July 6, 1992. Osama’s team to Bosnia: “Former Bin Laden ‘Bodyguard’ Discusses ‘Jihad’ in Bosnia, Somalia,” interview with Nasir Al-Bahri, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, March 24, 2005. “Gifts of charity…weapons”: Harmony AFGP 2002-003214–Statement 18, “Tragedy of Bosnia and Deceit of Saudi Arabia,” August 11, 1995.

  4. Interview with a Bin Laden employee who asked to not be identified.

  5. Al-Fadl testimony, February 6, 2001, op. cit.

  6. “a new airport…joint venture”: Clarke, Against All Enemies, p. 136. “built the Port Sudan airport”: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, pp. 122–23. “to the best…controlled by Osama”: Affidavit of Omar Bin Laden, op. cit.

  7. “This project…participated in it”: Okaz, June 25, 1992.

  8. “guest of honor”: “Part One of Series of Reports on Bin Laden’s Life in Sudan,” Al-Quds Al-Arabi, November 24, 2001. “To the best…the Sudan”: Affidavit of Omar Bin Laden, op. cit.

  9. Bakr met with Osama during 1992: Affidavit of Bakr Bin Laden, January 25, 2006, In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit. “accompanied by…set”: Letter to the author from TimothyJ. Finn, October 31, 2007. “almost nine”: Lawrence (ed.), Messages to the World, p. 55. “Late 1992…States”: Affidavit of Tareq Bin Laden, January 25, 2006, In Re Terrorist Attacks.

  10. “became clear…refuse to return”: Badeeb interview with Orbit Television circa late 2001, tape provided to the author by Badeeb, translated by The Language Doctors, Inc.

  11. Interviews with two individuals who asked to not be identified. “I apologized…against them”: Messages to the World, op. cit., p. 55.

  12. “He was out of touch…so important”: Interview with Jamal Khashoggi, March 17, 2006. Osama’s Sudan activity: Al-Fadl testimony, op. cit.; The Osama Bin Laden I Know, op. cit., various testimony, pp. 126–32.

  13. For example: “Global Network Provides Money, Haven,” by Steve Coll and Steve LeVine, Washington Post, August 3, 1993. Drawing upon LeVine’s visit to Khartoum, where he unsuccessfully sought an interview with Bin Laden at his villa, the story reported: “Today Bin Laden lives in exile in a posh neighborhood of Khartoum, Sudan, building roads and airports for Sudan’s new radical Islamic government, financing a lavish guest house for itinerant Arab veterans of the Afghan conflict and lecturing at times on revolutionary Islam, according to Sudanese businessmen, officials and diplomats.” The story also made particular reference to the government of Egypt’s antipathy toward Bin Laden and the exiled radicals he harbored in Sudan.

  14. “Everything appeared…the regime”: Fandy, Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent, p. 119.

  15. Ibid., p. 181.

  16. Affidavit of Bakr Bin Laden, op. cit.

  17. Ghalib’s Al-Taqwa account and all quotations from documents filed in In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit. Ghalib’s 1989 visit: See chapter 24. U.S. Treasury assessment: Letter from George B. Wolfe, Treasury deputy general counsel to Claude Nicati, office of the Swiss prosecutor general, January 4, 2002.

  18. “Todeprive…companies”: Letter from Timothy J. Finn, op. cit. “Osama’s…Middle East”: Affidavit of Tareq Bin Laden, op. cit. “brother-to-brother”: Interview with Khashoggi, op. cit. “With God’s grace…go back”: Messages to the World, op. cit., p. 55.

 
19. Messages to the World, ibid.

  20. “take this money…other relatives”: Interview with Abdulaziz Al-Gasim, February 8, 2005. Gasim said that in his work as an attorney, he had “seen legal papers, very secret, describing all this.” About $9.9 million and all Bakr quotations: Affidavit of Bakr Bin Laden, op. cit. If, as court documents indicate, Osama owned about 2 percent of each of the two main family companies, and if the $10 million price of his shares reflected full value, this would mean the total market value of the Bin Laden enterprises in 1994 was approximately a combined $500 million.

  21. Al Nadwah, February 20, 1994, translated and filed by Bin Laden attorneys, In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit.

  22. Government announcement: Riyadh Daily, April 7, 1994. “never had access…control”: “Defendant Saudi Binladin Group’s Response to Plaintiffs’ Objections…Dated July 26, 2007,” In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit.

  23. Al-Fawwaz’s education: Al Majallah, March 14, 1999. Arrest, movements: Prosecutor’s closing statements, United States v. Usama Bin Laden et al., op. cit., May 1, 2001.

  24. Saudi Arabia and the Politics of Dissent, op. cit., p. 181.

  25. Ibid., p. 182.

  26. The author is grateful to Bruce Hoffman, Kim Cragin, Nadia Oweidat, Sara Daly, Heather Gregg, and Anna Kasupski of the Early History of Al Qaeda Working Group for access to these texts from the “Harmony” collection, many of which were translated during 2006. “Supreme Council for Damage,” Harmony AFGP 2002-003214–Statement 10, October 15, 1994.

  27. “shady history…Muslims”: Harmony AFGP 2002-003214–Statement 10.

  28. “has a shady past…on its people”: Harmony AFGP 2002-003214–Statement 13, “Prince Salmanand Charity Offerings in Ramadan,” February 12, 1995. “tricksters”: Ibid., Statement 16, “Prince Sultan and Flight Commissions,” July 11, 1995. “hostile to Islam and Muslims”: Ibid., Statement 18, “Tragedy of Bosnia and Deceit of Saudi Arabia,” August 11, 1995.

  29. Affidavit of Carmen Bin Laden, February 1, 2006, In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit.

  30. Testimony of Jamal Al-Fadl, op. cit. “We had…his people”: Quoted in Bergen and Cruickshank, “How the Idea of Al Qaeda Was Conceived…” 2006.

  31. Harmony Statement 13, op. cit., February 12, 1995.

  32. “she could not…hardship”: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, March 30, 2005. “because my father…to my desires”: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, October 21, 2001. “avoided mentioning…hurt by him”: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, March 30, 2005.

  33. Khalifa: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, May 4, 2002. Government put them on notice, donated to king’s charities: Interview with a Bin Laden employee in Jeddah at the time, who asked to not be identified.

  34. Affidavit of Omar Bin Laden, op. cit.

  35. “I am tired…nostalgic I am”: Hassan Al-Surayhi, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, op. cit. p. 126. Osama’s interest in asylum in Britain was disclosed by Michael Howard, who was Home Secretary during the mid-1990s. Times (London) September 29, 2005.

  36. “Emigration…Day of Judgment,’ Messages to the World, op. cit., p. 19. “I tell you…pleasure of God”: Messages to the World, p. 91.

  30. HEDGE FUNDS

  1. Interview with Chas Freeman, June 15, 2005, and with other officials who asked to not be identified.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Articles of incorporation filed by attorneys for Saudi Bin Laden Group in In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 03 MDL 1570.

  4. Interviews with former and current Bin Laden employees and partners who asked to not be identified.

  5. Lucrative GE contracts: Arab News, April 18, 1996. Saudi Gazette, April 19, 1996. Party for Welch: Jane Mayer, New Yorker, November 12, 2001. Sarkissian office in New Jersey, Dallas-area projects: Interview with an individual familiar with the partnerships, who asked to not be identified. Directors of SBG (USA): Records submitted by Saudi Bin Laden Group, In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit.

  6. Rihani’s background: Interview with a colleague who asked to not be identified. His title, board service at Middle East Policy Council, Freeman as chairman: www.mepc.org, examined and typed, June 29, 2007.

  7. A brother might open a travel agency, an American firm hired to inventory holdings: Interview with an individual close to the Saudi Bin Laden Group who asked to not be identified. “tank tops…denims…” and varied business lines: Saudi Bin Laden Group directory, from corporate Web site examined and printed by Peter Bergen prior to September 11, 2001. The author is grateful to Peter Bergen for access to these documents.

  8. Loans to offshore companies: Russell Wood Limited filings, Companies House, London, 1996. The firm had outstanding loans to Celta Finance SA (117,669 pounds), Tropiville BV (2,048,498 pounds), and Saudi Investment Company (International) BVI (1,772,304 pounds). “We are unable…all respects…”: Russell Wood Limited filings, Companies House, London, 1991. The auditor was Stoy Hayward. Securities and Futures Authority required: Russell Wood (Holdings) Limited filings, Companies House, 1997.

  9. Moawalla background, Pilley: Russell Wood Limited filings, Companies House, London, 1987–1997. “You don’t have a need”: Interview with a former colleague of Moawalla who asked to not be identified.

  10. Hotel rooms, appearance: Photographs examined by the author, interviews with three acquaintances of Shafiq. January 1958: Symphony Advisers Ltd. filings, Companies House, London, 2000. USF: Telephone interviews with Gary McDonald, March 15 and 16, 2006. Could hold his own: Interview with a colleague who asked to not be identified. Investment committee: Interview with a second business partner who asked to not be identified.

  11. Briody, The Iron Triangle, pp. 1–89.

  12. Ibid., pp. 69–80.

  13. Raised $1.3 billion and California Public Employees: Ibid., p. 85; Soros: Ibid., p. 84.

  14. Briody: Ibid., p. 145, quotes Basil Al-Rahim, an exiled Iraqi financier, saying that he brought the Bin Ladens into the Carlyle investment. The thrust of this account was confirmed by an individual familiar with the investment who asked to not be identified. The Bin Laden investment in Carlyle was about $2 million at the time it was sold in the autumn of 2001, but Briody’s reporting suggests that the family may have made and cashed out larger investments during the 1990s. “knew them…favorite politician”: Telephone interview with Charles Schwartz, September 20, 2006.

  15. Saudi purchase, Middle East Broadcasting support: Interview with Tobin Beck, former UPI editor, October 12, 2005. “I don’t appreciate…service”: Interview with Arnaud de Borchgrave, March 10, 2005.

  16. “clearly a man”: Interview with Borchgrave, ibid.

  17. Interviews with two family members and several Desert Bear neighbors who asked to not be identified.

  18. The portrait is drawn from interviews with several former classmates and Abdullah’s academic adviser. Range Rover: Telephone interview with Nada Abdelsater-Abusamra, January 2006 (RS). Near Beacon Street, Papa Razzi: Telephone interview with Lama Abu-Odeh, January 15, 2006 (RS).

  19. “I would tease…you can tell me”: All quotations from interview with Abu-Odeh, ibid.

  20. Ibid.

  21. “It could well be…feasible”: Bin Laden, “Western Banking Practices…” p. 2.

  22. “the academic…religion”: Interview with Frank Vogel, December 2005 (RS).

  23. “They were interested…Middle East”: Interview with Vogel, ibid.

  24. Interview with Andrew Hess, December 2005 (RS).

  25. Ibid.

  31. A TROJAN DESK

  1. Car bomb: United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, staff report, September 12, 1996. Former Vinnell board member: Briody, The Iron Triangle, p. 67.

  2. Christmas 1995, Bakr flew guests from America: Interview with Gerald Auerbach, May 11, 2005.

  3. Interviews with several guests and members who have visited since the 1990s. The author visited the club as a guest more recently. 201 bedroom chalets and studios: Saudi Bin Laden Group Web site, pages examined
and printed by Peter Bergen prior to September 11, 2001.

  4. Interview with Auerbach, op. cit.

  5. Ibrahim family real estate holdings: Los Angeles Business Journal, July 26, 1993, citing a press release from Newfield Enterprises International, a family holding company. “heart of hearts…next king”: Interview with Wyche Fowler, June 1, 2005.

  6. “abrupt, impulsive…popular”: in Burdett (ed.), Records of Saudi Arabia, 1966–1971, Volume 2: 1967, Part I.

  7. CIA request, all quotations from Scheuer: Interview with Michael Scheuer, July 5, 2005. Clarke on Yemen: Clarke, Against All Enemies, p. 59.

  8. Interviews with four former U.S. officials familiar with the bugging incident and its aftermath. Robert Baer, a former CIA officer, in his book Sleeping with the Devil, apparently tried to disclose this incident publicly for the first time but had the material redacted by CIA censors, to whom he was required to submit his manuscript because of his previous government service. To show readers where censors had taken out material from his draft, Baer inserted black lines in his published book. On page 18, he wrote, “I often wondered why [Nayef] hated the U.S. so much.” This sentence is followed by five redacted lines. (Baer was not a source for the disclosure here, so it is possible that he was trying to make a different point.)

  32. THE AESTHETICS OF WORSHIP

  1. Hammoudi, A Season in Mecca. “Through the window…firmament”: pp. 74–75. “shop-windows…neon-lit boards”: pp. 82–84. “‘Modernity’ ravaged everything”: p. 111.

  2. Ibid., pp. 109–15.

  3. “deliberate desire”: Ibid., p. 114. The $25 billion figure is regularly cited in press accounts, e.g., Time, October 7, 2001. The Bin Ladens themselves, in their self-published book Story of the Great Expansion, refer to “more than 50 billion Saudi riyals” in total spending, or at least $12 billion.

  4. Prophet’s Mosque about one-tenth the size of the Grand Mosque: Abbas, Story of the Great Expansion, p. 371. Other details of the projects, and their sequence, are drawn from this official Bin Laden company account.