Steve Coll - The Bin Ladens

1. The August 6 meeting has been described similarly, with slight variations, in a number of published accounts. Schwarzkopf on his knee: Freeman quoted in The House of Saud , Algeria Productions, 2004. See also Bronson, Thicker Than Oil , pp. 194–95; Clarke, Against All Enemies , pp. 57–59. Lippman, Inside the Mirage , pp. 300–1.

2. “Don’t you think…take your point”: Freeman, ibid. “Okay”: Lippman, ibid.

3. “to increase…of Muslims”: Lawrence (ed.), Messages to the World , pp. 198–99.

4. Family foundation, previous accounts in a Swiss bank: Interviews with international banking officials who asked to not be identified. The Swiss Bank Corporation account documents were submitted as exhibits by lawyers for the Bin Ladens in In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 , United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 03 MDL 157. “Sub-accounts…invasion of Kuwait”: Affidavit of Omar Bin Laden, January 25, 2006, In Re Terrorist Attacks .

5. All account document quotations, dates, financial transfers, from original account documents submitted by attorneys for the Bin Ladens in In Re Terrorist Attacks , ibid.

6. “has been forbidden…your economy”: Messages to the World , op. cit., p. 167.

7. Interview with Khaled Batarfi, February 19, 2005.

8. Islamists in South Yemen: Interview with Dominic Simpson, former British intelligence officer who served in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen, May 17, 2002. “did have…funded everything”: “Interview with Shaykh Al-Fadli On Aden-Abyan Islamic Army…” Al-Quds Al-Arabi , November 8, 2001, FBIS translation. See also “Yemen’s Enduring Challenges…” TerrorismMonitor , Jamestown Foundation, Volume II, Issue 7, April 8, 2004, interview with former U.S. Treasury official Jonathan Winer.

9. “had reportedly asked…regime”: Against All Enemies , op. cit., p. 59. “came to see me…not acceptable idea”: Quoted in Meeting Osama Bin Laden, Brook Lapping Productions, 2004.

10. Badeeb: Interview with Orbit Television, tape provided by Badeeb to the author, translated by The Language Doctors, Inc. Raid on Bin Laden’s farm: Sharaf Al-Din, Bin Laden…the Arab Afghans , pp. 52–53.

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.”

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.

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.