Word: osama
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...failed 1995 attempt on President Hosni Mubarak. The leading ideologue of al-Qaeda, with an extreme dedication to violence, al-Zawahiri, 50, is "the brain behind bin Laden," says Montasser el-Zayat, an Egyptian lawyer who has represented extremist groups and spent time in prison with al-Zawahiri. "When Osama went to Afghanistan, he was just a young man supporting the Afghans," says el-Zayat. "He did not have a political outlook. Ayman controlled his thinking and convinced him of the principles of Jihad...
...week after two flights took off from Boston's Logan airport and began a sneak attack on New York City, a chartered 727 left Logan with several members of Osama bin Laden's extended family onboard, headed for Saudi Arabia. The FBI had warned them it was not safe to stay in the U.S. Many Americans were probably surprised to learn that relatives of bin Laden had been living in the U.S. for years, that his brother Abdullah practiced law in Boston, that his nephew Faisal was at the University of New Hampshire. But this family has little in common...
...Osama's father Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden emigrated from Yemen to Saudi Arabia as a bricklayer and slowly built the largest Saudi construction firm. His secret was winning the trust of the Saudi King, Abdel Aziz ibn Saud, who reigned from 1932 to 1953. The King asked bin Laden to rebuild the sacred city of Mecca, and ever since, the bin Ladens have been responsible for construction in Mecca and Medina. After Mohammed's death in a plane crash in 1967, his sons built Saudi BinLaden Group into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Recent ventures include building a freeway around...
Today the Saudi conglomerate is run by 13 of Osama's 51 siblings. They remain close to the royal family, which has given them crucial contracts. Several Saudi princes have begun their careers in business chaperoned by the bin Ladens. But that relationship was tested when Osama began advocating rebellion after King Fahd allowed American troops into Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. The government exiled Osama, and his family quickly renounced him. Not long after the Sept. 11 attack, Osama's uncle and family patriarch Abdullah, speaking from his home in Jidda, declared the family's "strong denunciation...
...Osama is hurting business. Saudi BinLaden Group, which has joint ventures with companies ranging from General Electric to Snapple, is now suffering the indignity of having a $2 million donation to Harvard criticized by Cambridge's city council, which has called the money tainted and is urging the school to pass it on to relief efforts. A British cellular firm suspended its partnership with the group...