Growing Up Bin Laden - Jean P. Sasson [88]
Being young and uninformed, I could not imagine the implications of living in a country that had so recently passed through a debilitating ten-year war with a superpower, followed by a fierce civil war that would reduce the few surviving remnants of the old Afghanistan to shreds. Never having even been in a war zone, I was unaware of the daily challenges of surviving in a country made primitive by incessant war. I stupidly believed that my life would continue much as it had in Khartoum.
A Note Regarding Osama bin Laden’s Political and Militant Activities
JEAN SASSON
While Najwa was raising her children in Sudan, and Omar and his brothers passed into their teenage years, Osama’s militant activities greatly increased. Enraged at having to leave Saudi Arabia for good, he blamed both the Americans and the Saudi royal family. This fury increased his determination to strike terrorist blows at the United States, and at Saudi Arabia.
Grateful to the country that had offered him refuge, he developed plans to improve the economic situation in Sudan. Soon he was constructing factories, opening businesses, and building roads.
So, angry with the Americans and the Saudis at his exile, he was also in a rush to activate the military arm of his al-Qaeda organization. With the approval of his Sudanese hosts, he set up the first of his military training camps in various parts of the country, and began recruiting for holy warriors. His famous name was a popular draw for fighters and before long the training camps were filled to capacity.
After Osama transferred the base of his operations to Sudan, the Egyptians followed. Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and his al-Jihad group along with Omar Abdel Rahman’s al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya Group reestablished their relationships with Osama when they brought their fighting men to Khartoum. The combination of the three groups made for a hotbed of radicalism.
Osama had only been in Sudan for a short period before signs were clear that assaults upon America had begun. First there was an attack in Aden, Yemen. The American military was using the city as a base on their way to Somalia, where they were involved in a humanitarian mission. On December 29, 1992, bombs exploded at two hotels in Aden. While American soldiers were the target, none was killed; but two innocent Austrian tourists died.
Less than a year later, on October 4, 1993, there was coordination with Somali militia, who shot down two American Black Hawk helicopters, killing eighteen U.S. servicemen, the tragic event that was the basis for the book and the movie Black Hawk Down.
In 1994 the Saudi government not only rescinded Osama’s citizenship and that of his family, but froze his assets, confiscating his children’s inheritance. While the exact figure is not known, it is believed that Osama lost many millions of dollars in one swoop.
His desire to attack Saudi Arabia and America increased with every personal blow.
While some plans organized from Osama’s al-Qaeda bases were prevented by western security forces, others succeeded. But it was a terrorist plan gone awry on June 26, 1995, that caused Osama and al-Qaeda to be expelled from Sudan. Ironically, Osama bin Laden was not involved in that particular attack.
When Abdel Rahman’s al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya Group attempted to assassinate Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, governments from the area, along with the United States, increased the pressure on the Sudanese government to expel the three notorious radical groups.
At first the Sudanese officials offered to turn Osama bin Laden over to the Saudi government. But the rulers of the kingdom knew that Osama was still highly celebrated as a war hero in their country. They were not keen to put a war hero on trial.
The Sudanese then offered Osama to the United States. Since there was no indictment against Osama bin Laden at that time, the American government had no legal basis to arrest Osama.
At that point, the Sudanese officials informed Osama that he must leave their country. Unsure where he might be welcome,