Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
December 4, 2001

Osama bin Laden

Selected links from the NYTimes on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda

WEEK IN REVIEW
What Will Rise if bin Laden Falls?
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
If Osama bin Laden, who has been Al Qaeda's founder, theoretician, financier and spokesman, is killed or captured, will the terrorist organization live on without him?

THE PROFILE
Bin Laden's Journey From Rich Pious Lad to the Mask of Evil
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
(Sept. 30) The myths and realities of Osama bin Laden swirl together like the smoke over the ruins of the World Trade Center. Who is this man?

AL QAEDA
How bin Laden and Taliban Forged Jihad Ties
By DOUGLAS FRANTZ and DAVID ROHDE
(Nov. 22) Osama bin Laden's relationship with the Taliban helped lead the Afghan religious movement into a more global jihad and, eventually, doom.
Running Terrorism as a Business (Nov. 11)
Signs of Change in Terror Goals Not Heeded (Oct. 14)
Islamic Jihad Seen as bin Laden's Backbone (Oct. 4)
A Sprawling Web of Terrorists-in-Waiting (Sept. 30)
Holy Warriors Escalate Old War on New Front (Sept. 16)

Al Qaeda Organization

THE EVIDENCE
An Investigation in Egypt Illustrates Al Qaeda's Web
By SUSAN SACHS
(Nov. 21) Records from a 1999 Cairo trial show how the merger of Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad vastly enhanced Osama bin Laden's reach and organizational ability.
Indictment by Spanish Judge Portrays a Secret Terror Cell (Nov. 20)
Britain's Bill of Particulars (Oct. 10)

THE MANUAL
Captured Terrorist Manual Suggests Hijackers Did a Lot by the Books
(Oct. 5)
Investigators suspect that some of the hijackers trained in Al Qaeda camps, and while there is no evidence the hijackers had the handbook, much of their conduct reflects its lessons.

THE HEIR APPARENT
Egyptian Raised Terror Funds in U.S. in 1990's
By SUSAN SACHS and JOHN KIFNER
(Oct. 23) In 1995, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri slipped into the United States and collected thousands of dollars from people who were told that their donations would go to Afghan refugees.
Egyptian Doctor Believed to Be bin Laden's No. 2 (Sept. 24)

THE RELIGION
Bin Laden Adheres to Austere Form of Islam
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
(Oct. 7)
The faith that drives Osama bin Laden and his followers is a particularly conservative brand of Islam known as Wahhabism, which was instrumental in creating the Saudi monarchy.

THE CONVICTIONS
4 Guilty in Terror Bombings of 2 U.S. Embassies in Africa
By BENJAMIN WEISER
(May 30) Four men were convicted of conspiring with Osama bin Laden in a 1998 terrorist plot to bomb the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

THE DOUBLE AGENT
A Soldier's Shadowy Trail in U.S. and in the Mideast
By BENJAMIN WEISER and JAMES RISEN
Ali A. Mohamed was an Egyptian intelligence officer, a spy for the C.I.A., a member of an elite American Army unit, a witness for the F.B.I., and a close associate to Osama bin Laden.


SPECIAL REPORT: JAN. 14-16
One Man and a Global Web of Violence
By STEPHEN ENGELBERG
Osama bin Laden has created a kind of clearinghouse for Islamic terrorism in his Al Qaeda group, which American officials say is the center of a global Islamic holy war.

Dissecting a Terror Plot From Boston to Amman
By JUDITH MILLER
Jordanian and American officials say a thwarted terrorist attack in Jordan in late 1999 is a case study of how Osama bin Laden and his deputies, isolated in Afghanistan, have extended their reach.

Killing for the Glory of God, in a Land Far From Home
By JUDITH MILLER
If the international terrorism that has haunted Americans for the last decade has a home, it is Afghanistan, the place that comes closest to the extremists' ideal of a state ruled by the strict code of Islamic law.