OSAMA BIN LADEN BIDES HIS TIME;
TO STRIKE THE U.S. AGAIN?
By Steve Macko, ERRI Risk Analyst
Exiled Saudi
millionaire Osama bin Laden remains hidden somewhere in the
mountains of Afghanistan. He is wealthy, elusive and an Islamic
extremist who is plotting against the United States. In his eyes
and of those of his militant followers, bin Laden and his army of
mujahadeen fighters have already brought down one infidel
superpower by destroying the Soviet Union in a ten-year-long war
in Afghanistan.Now, Osama bin Laden has set his sights on and has sworn to bring an end of U.S. influence in his native Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world. It is said that he has the money to do it. Security analyst Arnaud de Borchgrave, who has met bin Laden, estimates that he is worth more than US$200 million. He is said to also have the ability to tap the fortunes of other wealthy sympathizers.
Counterterrorism analysts say that bin Laden is working with terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and its patron Iran. Kenneth Katzman, the terrorism analyst for the U.S. Congress, said, "I think you have an 'atomic bomb' brewing between bin Laden, Hezbollah and the Iranians. If these two huge forces are married, either could set off the spark. Sooner or later you are going to see more from these people."
The U.S. State Department calls bin Laden "one of the most significant financial sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world today." Just like the old E.F. Hutton ads, when bin Laden speaks, people listen.
This past February, bin Laden renewed his threat of a "jihad" or holy war against U.S. soldiers and civilians in Saudi Arabia. This led the U.S. State Department to issue a warning.
In speaking to an Arabic newspaper, bin Laden said, "We had thought that the Riyadh and al-Khobar blasts were a sufficient signal to sensible U.S. decision-makers to avert a real battle between the Islamic nation and U.S. forces, but it seems that they did not understand the signal."
Bin Laden reportedly made his militant contacts during the Afghan war. He then set up terrorist training camps in Sudan and financed attacks against the moderate governments of Algeria, Egypt, his native Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
His apparent partner, Hezbollah, has a history of terror against the United States and its allies. They are believed responsible for the 1983 attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 Americans and more recently the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina that killed 95 people.
There is growing evidence that bin Laden has struck the United States with Hezbollah's help. The evidence is said to be strong that his followers were responsible for the November 1995 terrorist bombing in Riyadh that killed five U.S. service personnel and two Indians. It is said to be still unclear if bin Laden had any involvement in the 25 June 1996 terrorist truck bombing in Dhahran that killed 19 U.S. airmen.
There is also evidence that bin Laden may had been connected to the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City that killed six people and wounded more than 1,000 others. Ramzi Yousef, who is currently on trial for being involved in the World Trade Center bombing, is said to have received money from bin Laden's brother-in-law.
According to a top State Department official, "Bin Laden's activities were run through Islamic charities that we think extended as far as the Philippines and that is where Yousef planned out his attacks on U.S. planes." Yousef was captured in Pakistan at a guesthouse that was set up for Afghan war veterans by Osama bin Laden.
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the now dead head of the Juarez drug cartel in Mexico, was said to be worth much more than bin Laden. Carrillo was worth billions not millions of dollars. Authorities said that even though Carrillo was probably one of the wealthiest men in the world, he felt like a hunted man for most of this year. The Osama bin Laden problem needs to come to a similar end.
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
The DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Security/Terrorism/Intelligence/ Military and National Security issues.
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