OSAMA BIN LADEN
Extracted from the "The Gem Hunter"

[ Osama Bin Laden   The Taliban   Ahmed Shah Massoud   Meeting Massoud   Massoud Takes Kabul ]

Osama bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden, also known as "Sheik Osama Bin Laden," "the Prince," "the Emir," and "Abu Abdallab" operates one of the larger training camps in Eastern Afghanistan. Rumors started flying in 1996 in Peshawar of his recruiters’ enticing young boys of both Afghanistan and Pakistani origin with promises of a bright future to join the Taliban battle for total control of Afghanistan. Fearful tales abounded about soldiers abducting boys from their families and forcing them to fight in battles for Jalalabad and Kabul. The Taliban still command training camps in Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan, many originally sponsored by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and backed by America.

To discover what sort of history might inspire the tactics Bin Laden has employed, political students may want to consider what sharp contrast exists between the biographies of the two leaders of the Afghan game—the Sheik and Ahmed Shah Massoud. It is also fascinating to note the convoluted role the USA has played in the fortunes of both.

Bin Laden was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the only son of his Syrian mother married to his Arabian father, who had 53 children by other wives. As a construction magnate, his father, Mohammed Bin Laden, maintained close ties with the Saudi monarchy.

His son, growing to be 6’1" tall, graduated as a civil engineer and business student from Jiddah's King Abdul-Aziz University and married in his early 20s. As a Moslem fundamentalist, he began in the 1980s organizing Arab fighters in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Word in Peshawar was that his projects were sponsored and funded by the CIA. One of these projects was to build an arms storage depot at Khost, Afghanistan, which was to become a major mujahideen base.

In 1987 he and his men faced near-impossible odds in the southern Afghanistan province of Paktia. Despite being outnumbered and poorly armed, they defeated the Soviet units. He is said to still proudly show off an assault rifle taken from a dead Russian general after that battle, the very AK-47 he totes for television interviews. Since returning home to Saudi Arabia a war hero, he is said to have sold over two hundred fifty thousand audiotapes on his beliefs.

Later, he and the CIA representatives argued over the siege of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Rumors in Peshawar held that the CIA had arranged for Bin Laden to die during the fighting.

As a strict learned Moslem Bin Laden did not want "infidel" armies, as he referred to the Americans, in his homeland. He presented Prince Sultan, the Saudi Defense Minister, with a letter proposing how Bin Laden and his colleagues could train Saudis to defend themselves and how they might employ equipment from his family’s large construction firm to dig trenches on the border with Iraq to lay sand traps against potential invaders.

Instead, the Saudi leadership turned to the United States to protect its vast oil reserves. When Bin Laden continued criticizing the government’s close alliance with Washington, the Saudi government, which feared his militant brand of Islam, stripped him of his citizenship.

Upset at that affront, the 44-year-old militant joined forces with fundamentalist Hassan Turabi, in Khartoum, Sudan. Responding to that alliance, in 1992 Saudi Arabia froze Bin Laden’s bank accounts and his $350 million share of his family’s multi-billion-dollar empire. He also lost about $150 million in investments when he was forced to leave Sudan in 1996.

Three years later the US government accused Bin Laden’s veterans of joining the fighting in Somalia, where many US peacekeepers were killed. As a result under pressure from the US and Saudi Arabia Sudan expelled him. In 1998 he was linked to the US embassy bombing in Kenya and Tanzania in which 263 people died. In addition many think he initiated the Khobar bombings in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the Luxor massacres of tourists in 1997, and the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993. Fighters believed to be in his sphere of influence contribute to the violence in such hotspots such as Chechnya and Kashmir.

Bin Laden is now on America’s Most Wanted List. Many fear that he has stockpiles of nuclear devices, fatal disease bacteria, and lethal nerve gas. As a result, grassroots Islamic militants across the world herald him as a hero and tremendously popular Islamic leader, the more so because he has declared his hatred of America and Israel. Will once distinct terrorist groups such as Hizbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad close ranks with Bin Laden? Surely the CIA must fear such a coalition.

Bin Laden continues to lead a life with his three wives, a Syrian and two Saudis, and their 15 or so children. They live in cities near his bases in Afghanistan.

U.S. strikes terrorist sites in Afghanistan, Sudan

By Aimal Khan, Frontier Post

Released: 20 Aug 1998

WASHINGTON (AFNS) — In late-night raids on two continents, U.S. military forces simultaneously struck Aug. 20 at the heart of terrorist organizations believed responsible for attacks against U.S. embassies in Africa.

Neither President Clinton who ordered the attacks in Afghanistan and Sudan, nor Department of Defense officials would immediately discuss the nature of the operations.

"To avoid possibly putting U.S. forces at risk," a spokesman said, "we will not comment on or answer questions about the operational aspects of these missions at this time."

"I ordered our armed forces to strike at terrorist-related facilities in Afghanistan and Sudan because of the threat they present to our national security," Clinton said.

"I have said many times that terrorism is one of the greatest dangers we face in this new global era. We saw its twisted mentality at work last week in the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which took the lives of innocent Americans and Africans and injured thousands more.

"Today, we have struck back."

He said the attack was launched against "one of the most active terrorist bases in the world. It is located in Afghanistan and operated by groups affiliated with Osama bin Laden, a network not sponsored by any state but as dangerous as any we face."

U.S. forces also struck a chemical weapons-related facility in Sudan. "Our target was the terrorists’ base of operation and infrastructure," Clinton said.

The president said he ordered the attacks for four reasons:

-- "We have convincing evidence these groups played the key role in the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

--" These groups have executed terrorist attacks against Americans in the past.

--" We have compelling information that they were planning additional terrorist attacks against our citizens and others with the inevitable collateral casualties we saw so tragically in Africa.

-- "They are seeking to acquire chemical weapons and other dangerous weapons."

The president added, "Terrorists must have no doubt that in the face of their threats, America will protect its citizens and will continue to lead the world's fight for peace, freedom and security."

In a joint press conference, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Henry H. Shelton said U.S. forces hit terrorist camps at Khowst, Afghanistan, and the Shifa Pharmaceutical Plant in Sudan, suspected of manufacturing chemical weapons.

At Khowst, targets included a base camp, support facility and four training sites. They are 94 miles south of the capital of Kabul near the border with Pakistan.

"The design," Cohen said, "was to take down the structure responsible for training hundreds, if not thousands, of terrorists."

Both Cohen and Shelton said they were not going to discuss operational details of the strikes because they did not want to jeopardize forces in case more strikes were needed later.

They did say that this round of strikes had ended.

Planning for the attacks, they said, had been under way for several days. Cohen said that meetings had taken place "around the clock to reassure ourselves" that the targets were valid.

During the first week of October 1998 Massoud and his staff wrote a letter in response to the Taliban and Bin Laden problems. It was addressed to the people of the United States of America and presented to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Haroun Amin, Member of the Afghanistan Mission to the United Nations, passed on a copy of the letter to me with permission to show it and publish it. As far as I know, the press ignored letter.

A Message to the People of the United States of America

From Ahmed Shah Massoud

Defense Minister, Islamic State of Afghanistan

Through the United States Senate-Committee on Foreign Relations

Hearing on Events in Afghanistan

October 8, 1998

In the name of God

Mr. Chairman, honorable representatives of the people of the United States of America, I send this message to you today on behalf of the freedom and peace-loving people of Afghanistan, the Mujahideen freedom fighters who resisted and defeated Soviet communism, the men and women who are still resisting oppression and foreign hegemony and, in the name of more than one and half million Afghan martyrs who sacrificed their lives to uphold some of the same values and ideas shared by most Americans and Afghans alike. This is a crucial and unique moment in history of Afghanistan and the world, a time when Afghanistan has crossed yet another threshold and is entering a new stage of struggle and resistance for its survival as a free nation and independent state.

I have spent the past 20 years, most of my youth and adult life, alongside my compatriots, at the service of the Afghan nation, fighting an uphill battle for God and country, sometime alone, at times with the support of the international community. Against all odds, we, meaning the free world and Afghans, halted and checkmated Soviet expansionism a decade ago. But the embattled people of my country did not savor the fruits of victory. Instead they were thrust in a whirlwind of foreign intrigue, deception, great gamesmanship and internal strife. Our country and our noble people were brutalized, the victims of misplaced greed, hegemonic design and ignorance. We Afghans erred too. Our shortcomings were as a result of political innocence, inexperience, vulnerability, victimization, bickering and inflated egos. But by no means does this justify what some of our so-called Cold War allies did to undermine this just victory and unleash their diabolical plans to destroy and subjugate Afghanistan.

Today, the world clearly sees and feels the results of such misguided and evil deeds. South-Central Asia is in turmoil, some countries on the brink of war. Illegal drug production, terrorist activities and planning are on the rise. Ethnic and religiously motivated mass murders and forced displacements are taking place, and the most basic human and women’s rights are shamelessly violated. The country has gradually been occupied by fanatics, extremists, terrorists, mercenaries, drug Mafias, and professional murderers. One faction, the Taliban, which by no means rightly represents Islam, Afghanistan to our centuries-old cultural heritage, has with direct foreign assistance exacerbated this explosive situation. They are unyielding and unwilling to talk or reach a compromise with any other Afghan side.

Unfortunately, this dark accomplishment could not have materialized without the direct support and involvement of influential government and non-government circles in Pakistan. Aside from receiving military logistics, fuel and arms from Pakistan, our intelligence reports indicate that more than 28,000 Pakistani citizens, including paramilitary personnel and military advisors are part of the Taliban occupation forces in various parts of Afghanistan. We currently hold more than 500 Pakistani citizens including military personnel in our POW camps. Three major concerns-—namely terrorism, drugs and human rights, originate from Taliban-held areas but are instigated from Pakistan, thus forming the inter-connecting angles of an evil triangle. For many Afghans, regardless of ethnicity or religion, Afghanistan, for the second time in one decade, is once again an occupied country.

Let me correct a few fallacies that are propagated by Taliban backers and their lobbies around the world. This situation over the short and long run, even in case of total control by the Taliban, will not be to anyone’s interest. It will not result in stability, peace, and prosperity in the region. The people of Afghanistan will not accept such a repressive regime. Regional countries will never feel secure and safe. Resistance will not end in Afghanistan, but will take on a new national dimension, encompassing all Afghan ethnic and social strata.

The goal is clear. Afghans want to regain their right to self-determination through a democratic or traditional mechanism acceptable to our people. No one group, faction or individual has the right to dictate or impose its will by force or proxy on others. But first, the obstacles have to be overcome, the war has to end, just peace established and a transitional administration set up to move us toward a representative government.

We are willing to move toward this noble goal. We consider this as part of our duty to defend humanity against the scourge of intolerance, violence and fanaticism. But the international community and the democracies of the world should not waste any valuable time, and instead play their critical role to assist in any way possible the valiant people of Afghanistan to overcome the obstacles that exist on the path to freedom, peace, stability and prosperity. Effective pressure should be exerted on those countries that stand against the aspirations of the people of Afghanistan. I urge you to engage in constructive and substantive discussions with our representatives and all Afghans who can and want to be part of a broad consensus for the peace and freedom for Afghanistan.

With all due respect and my best wishes for the government and people of the United States,

Ahmad Shah Massoud

January 14, 1999

Frontier Post

PESHAWAR - Four hard-core fighters, including two Arabs close to Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden, have been killed in rocket attacks at Qila Murad Beg, north of Kabul. Pro-Taliban Pakistani sources said here Wednesday that four close associates of Osama, namely Abdul Salam from Tanzania, Abu Ahmad Al-Khaleefi, Algeria, and two Pakistanis hailing from Dir, NWFP, were killed in opposition's rocket attacks in the outskirts of the Afghan capital a few days back.

The incident occurred when the two Arabs made a wireless contact with the opposition Commander Mullah Taj Mohammad and started denouncing the Tajik commander Ahmad Shah Massoud’s policies in the Afghan affairs and urged him to join the Taliban’s ranks. Mullah Taj Mohammad, a well-known commander of Itehad-i-Islami (Prof. Sayyaf’s group) who has spent a lot of time with these Arabs in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, strongly opposed their views.

Prof. Sayyaf is the lone Pukhtoon Jehadi leader who, along with his group, are siding with the anti-Taliban opposition, largely comprising non-Pukhtoon members and currently led by Tajik warlord, Ahmad Shah Massoud. Mullah Taj, infuriated by the two Arabs persuation, after locating their position, fired a Russian-made rocket at their position, which hit the target killing the two Arabs along with two Pakistanis.

To play the "Afghanistan Game" in my own way, by trying to contribute to the lives of the Afghan people, I continue to collect books and to follow the news. In the English translation of A History of Afghanistan, printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic by Progress Publishers in 1985, I located the following information:

Reviewing the events of the 7th and 8th centuries in the caliphate, which affected the fate of the peoples that played a significant role in the history of Afghanistan, it must be noted that the mid-7th century saw the beginning of the division of Muslims. * Standing out among them were primarily the supporters of "true Islam"—the Sunset’s, adherents of the Sunna (they hold that the caliphate is an elective office), and also the Shiites (Shiah, i.e., "the party of Ali"). The latter recognize the hereditary right to be imam-head of the Muslim community of the caliphate and supreme political leader of the state- only for Ali (Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law) and his descendants. The Shiites had several sects within the framework of both moderate and extreme Shiism, Ismailism being one of them. This sect has survived to the present day; its followers live in a number of Asian countries and also in Afghanistan and Pakistan in its northern regions.

The third sect, the Kharijites (insurgents) who came out against big landowners, and supported the legal and social equality of all Muslims and their dominating position over the Zimmiyas (non-Muslims). In their view, sovereign power was epitomised in the religious community, while the caliph (who had to be elected) should, in his ac, be activities, be responsible to it. An important aspect of their doctrine is that any Muslim, and any ruler for that matter, imam or calip, should he commit a "great sin" was thereafter considered a Kafir or infidel, and opposition to him was God-willed. This maxim often served as ideological ground for overthrowing a ruler, or for a "holy war," but in actual fact for political struggle, rebellions and insurrections. In the territory of Afghanistan this sect was most widespread in Seistan.

Shiism, just like the Kharijite doctrine, was used by the political, and often social, opposition in the struggle against the Umayyads, Abbasids and other Sunnite rulers.

*The Sunnites are subdivided into four main mazkhabs, named after their founders: Hanifite, Shafiite, Hanbalite and Malikite schools. The overwhelming majority of Afghans are Hanifites, who, as distinct from the followers of the other Islamic doctrines, are more tolerant of other religions and ideologies. Apart from religious law, they allow wide application of the usual local law (adat) and laws of the secular authorities. Many nomad tribes (not only Afghan but also Turkic), in which pre-Muslim patriarchal traditions were very tenacious, accepted Hanifite Islam.