The Bin Ladens

by Steve Coll

  14. “this was one of the contracts” and scene with Walter Light: Interview with Pochna, op. cit.

  15. The size of the Bell Canada portion of the contract is difficult to determine precisely. Pochna and Hunnewell, and documents from their litigation, suggest they were owed about $21 million for their 1.5 percent commission during the first five years, which would place the contract value in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. The total announced value of the contract, including all equipment sales, was more than $3 billion. That there was $400 million in construction contracts in addition: Surtees, Pa Bell, p. 231; that these went to Bin Laden interests in the main: Interviews with Pochna and Hunnewell, op. cit. Mohammed bin Fahd’s $500 million commission: House of Saud, op. cit., p. 414.

  16. Juhaiman’s origins in Sajir: Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, p. 145; House of Saud, op. cit., pp. 514–15.

  17. House of Saud, op. cit., pp. 515–26.

  18. “Rules of Allegiance”: Ibid. “drunkards…the state’s money”: Vassiliev, A History of Saudi Arabia, pp. 395–96; Teitelbaum, Holier Than Thou, pp. 20–21. Quoted also in Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 28.

  19. Flight logs examined by the author.

  20. Mahdi divined in a dream: House of Saud, op. cit., p. 520.

  21. “was frantic…unhinged”: Carmen Bin Laden, Inside the Kingdom, pp. 123–25. “Everyone was saying…steel there was”: Interview with the Bin Laden employee, who asked to not be further identified.

  22. Gained access with Bin Laden vehicles: Inside the Kingdom, op. cit., p. 123. “Where is Bin Laden…Jackhammer it”: Interview with the Bin Laden employee, op. cit.

  23. “They bored…in the hole”: Telephone interview with Tim Barger, March 7, 2006. “we were slipping”: Interview with the Bin Laden employee, op. cit.

  24. Binladin International initial filings in Panama, dates, directors, successor corporation names: Documents collected and provided to the author by Douglas Farah and the Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation. In other court documents, the Bin Ladens acknowledged moving money offshore quickly in August 1990, following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. See chapter 27.

  25. Interview with the employee, op. cit. He did not recall the identity of the second brother. Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 94, reports that Osama was with Mahrouz, citing an interview with Jamal Khalifa. Inside the Kingdom, pp. 123–24, describes Mahrouz’s arrest but does not mention a second brother; it reports that Mahrouz had a pistol in his car.

  26. Interview with the employee, op. cit.

  27. Lawrence (ed.), Messages to the World, p. 266.

  28. Osama would also have been able to borrow or obtain much larger sums to make purchases such as the apartment he bought for his expanding family. The apartment building: Interview with Khaled Batarfi, February 19, 2005. According to Nasir Al-Bahri, Osama’s later bodyguard, two of the wives Osama took before he moved to Afghanistan had earned doctoral degrees either in Islamic law or in Arabic. Osama seems to have married one of these wives from the Al-Sharif family during the 1980s.

  29. “especially effective…problems”: Randal, Osama, p. 64, where Al-Khatib also describes the demolition work and Osama’s interaction with Europeans and Americans.

  30. “I knew it meant…like him anymore”: Al-Khatib interview in the Sunday Times (London), January 6, 2002.

  16. THE AMUSEMENT PARK

  1. Heart surgeon: Interview with Gail and Robert Freeman, April 27, 2006. Polaroid: Interview with Jack Hinson, May 10, 2005. Showed it to royalty: Interview with Mohamed Ashmawi, November 26, 2005 (RS.)

  2. Saudin Inc. filings and directors: Documents provided to the author by Douglas Farah and the Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation. “should there…Saudi Arabia”: Robert Freeman, “The Saudi Connection” (unpublished manuscript).

  3. “was having some cash flow problems”: Telephone interview with Aaron Dowd, February 13, 2006. Price of the property, sale terms: Freeman, “The Saudi Connection,” ibid. Book of flowers, who received the first houses: Interview with Gail and Robert Freeman, op. cit.

  4. Wine prank: Interview with Anwar Khan, May 6, 2006 (RS).

  5. Winter Garden and Desert Bear history: Telephone interview with Rod Reeves, former director of Winter Garden Heritage Museum, February 7, 2006; interview Julie Butler, Heritage Museum director, February 6, 2006. Also, Desert Bear history, McCarthy purchase and restoration: telephone interview with Miller McCarthy, February 10, 2006.

  6. Salem told McCarthy: Telephone interview with McCarthy, ibid. “the Prince…from Saudi Arabia”: “The Saudi Connection,” op. cit.

  7. Telephone interview with McCarthy, ibid. Closing date: Orange County property records. These show the purchase price as $1.61 million. McCarthy’s recollection of a higher price may include other contiguous land. The Deed for 17920 West Colonial, the address of the main estate, was purchased by Desert Bear Limited, “a Liberian corporation,” according to the Orange County records. That Price Waterhouse arranged the company: Interview with Robert Freeman, op. cit.

  8. Interviews with four longtime neighbors who asked not to be otherwise identified. “they liked…openly”: Telephone interview with McCarthy, ibid.

  9. “Come on up…in line”: Interview with Pat Deegan, September 8, 2005.

  10. Ibid. A number of other friends and employees of the Bin Ladens described Ghalib’s accident, but Deegan, who flew ultralights at Desert Bear and visited Ghalib in the hospital after the incident, offered the most specific account.

  11. Interview with Gail and Robert Freeman, op. cit.

  12. All quotations: “The Saudi Connection,” op. cit.

  13. “was looking for deals”: Interview with Freeman, op. cit.

  14. All quotations are from the interview with Gail Freeman, op. cit.

  15. “We were his playthings” and “Bob, you do…humor”: Interview with Freeman, op. cit.

  16. All quotations, ibid.

  17. “a very quiet…through him”: Interview with a former employee of Bin Mahfouz who asked not to be identified. Asked for comment about the profile of Bin Mahfouz and his business activities described throughout this chapter, attorneys for Bin Mahfouz said that he did not ordinarily comment about his family’s personal or business relationships, and that he would not do so in this case.

  18. “just as happy…care less”: Interview with a second former employee of Bin Mahfouz who asked to not be identified.

  19. Hammerman Brothers shopping, “This created quite a stir”: “The Saudi Connection,” op. cit. Attorneys for Bin Mahfouz said he had no comment.

  20. “The Big House”: Transcript of White’s interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; White affirmed the transcript’s accuracy in a telephone interview. “Why do these people…in for tea”: Interview with two former employees of Bin Mahfouz who asked to not be identified.

  21. Connolly and Hunt brothers on the plane, Khalid complaining about silver losses: Interview with the two former employees cited in notes 17 and 18. Khalid directed trading strategies: “Whose Rules?” in The Banker, November 1, 1990. Baker Botts: White transcript, ibid. Attorneys for Bin Mahfouz said he would have no comment.

  22. 1985 cash and deposits: The Banker, ibid. Aramco dollars and Baghdad flights: Interview with David Grey, February 21, 2006. Aid to Iraq of $25.7 billion: Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, p. 157. Transferred U.S. weapons: Clarke, Against All Enemies, p. 42. Attorneys for Bin Mahfouz said he had no comment. Salem Bin Mahfouz, the founder of National Commercial Bank and Khalid’s father, died in 1994. By the end of 2002, according to the Khalid’s attorneys, the Bin Mahfouz family had divested the last of its holdings in the bank, which remains one of the largest financial institutions in Saudi Arabia.

  23. Five million too small: “The Saudi Connection,” op. cit. Project Debra: Telephone interview with Andy Pugh, Metro West, February 13, 2006. $100,000 in cash, $30,000 tips: Peterson quoted in “Arabian Adventure,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 18, 2003.

 
24. Told McCarthy $220 million in debt: Telephone interview with McCarthy, op. cit. Backing out of yacht purchase: Interview with Thomas Dietrich, April 12, 2006. According to Orange County, Florida, records, the mortgage was taken out from Sun Bank on June 4, 1984 and was repaid on August 15, 1988.

  25. Asked to launder $5 million to $10 million: Interview with Robert Freeman, op. cit.

  17. IN THE KING’S SERVICE

  1. Interview with an aide to Salem who asked to not be identified.

  2. Clarke, Against All Enemies, p. 39.

  3. Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 65, for the U.S. government’s 1981 fiscal year. The brief analysis of U.S. and Saudi governmental attitudes toward the war here and elsewhere in this chapter is drawn from the research for Ghost Wars, chapters 1–5.

  4. Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, p. 155.

  5. The company had a zakat fund: Interview with Carmen Bin Laden, September 29, 2004. Also, Rand Corporation researcher Anna Kasupski, reviewing materials about the early history of the Services Office in Peshawar, located a 1985 document describing donations from a Bin Laden family foundation. “Rand: Early History of Al Qaeda Working Group, 2006.”

  6. Pakistani air force veterans, Mohammed Daoud: Interview with David Grey, February 21, 2006. Karachi in November 1980: Flight logs examined by the author. Osama’s first trip in 1980: Interview with Jamal Khashoggi, February 2, 2002. It is not clear what time of year he traveled.

  7. Class photograph: Author’s copy. “not an extremist…polite person”: Badeeb’s 2001 interview with Orbit televsion, supplied to the author by Badeeb, translated by The Language Doctors, Inc.

  8. “We cannot…they received” and using trips to Hajj to cultivate independent contacts: Interview with Ahmed Badeeb, February 1, 2002.

  9. “was not trusting…real mujaheddin”: Interview with Badeeb, ibid. Rabbani and Sayyaf, stayed a month: Al-Din, Bin Laden, p. 47.

  10. “The arrangement…relief work”: Interview with Khashoggi, op. cit. “Members of the government”: Interview with Khalil Khalil, February 10, 2005. Badeeb used humanitarian agencies as cover, Osama’s audiences with Nayef and Ahmed: Interview with Badeeb, and Badeeb Orbit interview, op. cit.

  11. “was a very…liked him”: Interview with Bassim Alim, February 21, 2005.

  12. “The training…younger brother”: Interview with Khashoggi, March 17, 2006. “That the Afghans…measure it”: Interview with Badeeb, op. cit. Vault for Osama’s jewelry donations: Interview with the aide to Salem, who asked to not be identified.

  13. Lawrence (ed.), Messages to the World, p. 110.

  14. “a young…his feet” and more than $15 million loss: Interview with Sabry Ghoneim, November 14, 2005 (RS).

  15. Azzam’s debts: Interview with Azzam’s wife by Mohammed Al Shafey, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, April 30, 2006. “meeting of money…Azzam”: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, April 4, 2005.

  16. Interview with Khalil, op. cit.

  17. Al-Quds Al-Arabi, March 20, 2005.

  18. That Azzam arrived in late 1981: Jamal Ismail in Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 26. Saudi funding of $35 million: Piscatori, “Islamic Values and National Interest,” in Islam and Foreign Policy, p. 47.

  19. Badeeb’s role in Sada camp: Interview with Badeeb, op. cit. That it was open by 1984: Hutaifa Azzam in The Osama Bin Laden I Know, op. cit. p. 28. “They would…conquer Kabul”: “The Story of the Arab Afghans,” Anonymous, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, December 12, 2004.

  20. Quoted in Bergen and Cruickshank, “How the Idea of Al Qaeda Was Conceived,” 2006.

  21. Between $200,000 and $300,000: Anna Kasupski, “Rand: Early History of Al Qaeda Working Group, 2006.” Construction engineer from the Bin Laden firm: Abdullah Anas, in The Osama Bin Laden I Know, op. cit., p. 29, identifies this engineer as Abdullah Saadi and says he was there “to guide the bulldozers. Osama borrowed him from the company.” Azzam at the Bin Laden home in Mecca; “The entire…take people” quoted in The Osama Bin Laden I Know, ibid., p. 31. The 1985 document: See note 5.

  22. “When the Sheikh…same boat”: Messages to the World, op. cit., p. 77. “As for repelling…against him”: Ibid., p. 202.

  23. Ibid., p. 239, from Bin Laden’s statement of October 29, 2004.

  24. “Lucky him…in heaven”: “Early Al Qaeda Working Group,” op. cit. First four committees: Gunaratna, “Al Qaeda: Its Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses with a Special Focus on the Pre-1996 Phase,” 2006.

  25. See the prologue.

  26. Surah 4, verse 127.

  27. “a mass movement…compassionate and patient”: Interview with Khashoggi, March 17, 2006. “Financial jihad…who don’t”: Messages to the World, op. cit., p. 203.

  28. Interview with Bengt Johansson, October 3, 2006.

  29. Ibrahim’s Mayfair apartment: Interview with Wayne Fagan, former Dee Howard Company general counsel, May 10, 2005. That he bought a Gulfstream and DC-8: Interview with a Bin Laden employee involved in the transactions. On Ibrahim and Fahd, also see the prologue.

  30. “He and I…a favor”: Interview with Dee Howard, March 16, 2005.

  31. “Your Majesty…another one”: Interview with Howard, ibid.

  32. “Some people…away with it”: Interview with a Bin Laden employee who was present. Arduous negotiations: Interview with the Bin Laden employee. Howard and Fagan declined to comment about Ibrahim’s specific demands. Several published newspaper accounts place the final value of the contract at $92 million, although Howard recalled that his initial bid was closer to $70 million, and that the price rose through additional changes and orders.

  33. Cleveland Clinic and operating theater: Interviews with Howard, Fagan, and the Bin Laden employee, op. cit. Raytheon provided defenses against heat-seeking missles: Dee Howard’s 1993 testimony in Ian Munro v. The Dee Howard Co., Bexar County, Texas, 91-CI-00928.

  34. Money wired, some increments of more than $10 million: Testimony of Wayne Fagan in Ian Munro v. The Dee Howard Co., ibid. “He was very interested”: Interview with Howard, op. cit.

  18. ANXIETY DISORDER

  1. Tennis parties, Yeslam and his brothers: Interview with Carmen Bin Laden, August 6, 2004, and interview with Terry Bennett, December 2005 (RS). Alcohol and steak: Bin Laden, Inside the Kingdom, p. 99.

  2. Yeslam’s cars: “Justified Statement of Claims” for Carmen Bin Laden, September 8, 2000, Court of the First Instance of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Case No. 19750/94-11, translated from the original French and filed in Carmen Binladin v. Yeslam and Ibrahim Binladin, Los Angeles County Superior Court, BC212648. Ibrahim’s Rolls-Royce: Ibrahim Bin Ladin v. Paul Andrew Richey, Los Angeles County Superior Court, WEC114264. Fatal brain damage, Formula One incident: Inside the Kingdom, op. cit., p. 154.

  3. Interview with Carmen Bin Laden, op. cit.; Inside the Kingdom, op. cit., pp. 109 and 115.

  4. Yeslam’s compensation in 1976 and 1978: “Respondent’s statement of defense and pleas,” Court of First Instance, Geneva, translated and filed in Los Angeles C212648, op. cit.

  5. Genthod property and purchase price: “Respondent’s statement,” ibid. Jewelry inventory: “Complaint for Declaratory Relief,” June 28, 1999, Los Angeles C212648, op. cit. “I admit” and cash box: Inside the Kingdom, op. cit., p. 150.

  6. In his divorce application in Geneva, Yeslam’s lawyers describe him as “a very emotional man who is prone to anxiety.” Yeslam’s own statement in the case refers to his falling “ill” and seeking “medical treatment,” but does not further specify his condition. The specific reference to “panic attacks” is from Carmen’s filings in that case.

  7. “hid himself…this mania”: From “Replies to Yeslam’s numbered paragraphs,” Court of First Instance, Geneva, translated and filed in Los Angeles C212648, op. cit. See also Inside the Kingdom, pp. 124 and 129.

  8. “His wife seemed…into a tree”: Divorce Application, “As to Fact,” Court of First Instance, Geneva, translated and filed in Los Angeles C212648, op. cit. “everything she could…his busi
ness”: “Replies to Yeslam’s numbered paragraphs,” ibid. Six weeks in Los Angeles, condition improved: “Declaration of Yeslam Mohammed Binladin,” November 22, 1999, ibid.

  9. “To dispose…make money”: From “Saudi Investment Company (SICO): An Emerging Financial Service Center,” circa 1983, filed in In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 03 MDL 1570.

  10. Falken-owned Saudi Investment Company: “Reply Memorandum In Support of Defendant Yeslam Binladin’s Motion,” In Re Terrorist Attacks, ibid. Construction work in Sudan: In an affidavit submitted in In Re Terrorist Attacks, Omar Bin Laden described the formation “in the Jersey Channel Islands in the late 1980’s” of a company called “Binladin Overseas (Pvt. Ltd.),” which was “awarded a contract for the construction of the Port Sudan airport in the Sudan.” Saudi Investment Company Panama Corp.: Panamanian filing supplied to author by Douglas Farah and Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation. The incorporation papers are dated October 28, 1983. “Mohamed Binladin Organization Inc.” of Panama: Farah and NEFA documents, ibid. The company filed incorporation papers on March 21, 1984.

  11. “hundreds of marketing…our customers”: From “Saudi Investment…Emerging Financial Service Center,” op. cit. Stock holdings and turnover by the end of 1983, ibid.

  12. Ibid.

  13. DLJ introduced Yeslam to Tickle: Telephone interview with Charles Tickle, February 16, 2006. Saudi Investors, Inc., formed in Panama: NEFA documents, op. cit., and a prospectus for Saudi Investors filed in In Re Terrorist Attacks, op. cit. “Mohamed Binladin Family” and Richmond, Houston, project details: Saudi Investors prospectus, ibid. “A unique concept…purchasing power”: “Saudi Investment…Emerging Financial Service Center,” op. cit.

  14. “always very professional…cared less”: Interview with Tickle, op. cit.