Word: ladened
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...hero to us because he was always on the front line, always moving ahead of everybody else," recalls Hamza Mohammed, a Palestinian volunteer in Afghanistan who now manages one of bin Laden's construction projects in Sudan. "He not only gave his money, but he also gave himself. He came down from his palace to live with the Afghan peasants and the Arab fighters. He cooked with them, ate with them, dug trenches with them. That was bin Laden...
...Laden returned home to discover that he had become a celebrity. But his star appeal swiftly faded when he began denouncing the Saudi regime. The government had already come under criticism from Muslim activists for its corruption and its failure to adhere strictly to Islamic law. All these failings offended bin Laden. But the real apostasy was King Fahd's decision to allow Western troops into the kingdom during the Gulf War. In bin Laden's view, armed infidels in the holy land were a desecration of Islam. After publicly criticizing the regime and becoming the target of a harassment...
...Laden runs his farms and his businesses in Sudan, criticizes the Saudi government from afar, and, he says, gives money for charities. He suggested a second meeting, this time at his small, walled farm on the bank of the Blue Nile south of Khartoum. At the farm, he made a point of claiming that the Egyptians had cited it as a terrorist camp. All that could be seen were a few horses, cows and goats. "Take pictures of whatever you like," bin Laden said with a smile...
Despite his denials, bin Laden remains a grave concern to those "corrupt regimes." He is, as a U.S. official said, a "big fish," since his heroic reputation gives him influence. According to this official, "Bin Laden is the kind of guy who can go to someone and say, 'I need you to write out a six-figure check,' and he gets it on the spot. He hits up Islamic businessmen who in some cases may not know where their money is going. A lot of it isn't going to rebuild mosques in Bosnia or feed starving Muslims in Somalia...
...Saudi government has stripped bin Laden of his citizenship, Britain has forbidden him to enter the country, the U.S. has made serious allegations against him, but so far no one has charged him with any crime. In his conversations with TIME, he gave a warning to those who would continue to pursue him. "People are supposed to be innocent until proved guilty," he said. "Well, not the Afghan fighters. They are the 'terrorists of the world.' But pushing them against the wall will do nothing, except increase the terrorism...