As of March 26, we're $27,100 in the red for the quarter. Donate here to support this vital work
Subscribe here and join over 13,000 subscribers to our free weekly newsletter

9/11: Bin Laden Family Allowed on Flight Home

New York Times Website Requires Payment to View Article
Free Copy Given Below

This article on the FBI escorting the bin Laden family as they allowed them to fly home shortly after 9/11 is one of the articles on the 9/11 summaries for which the media website requires payment. For the New York Times website, you must both register as a member (which is free), and then pay a small fee by credit card on line in order to be able to view or download the full article. Once registered, you can view an abstract of the article for no cost. First, go to:

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F14F63F590C738FDDA00894D9404482

If you haven't previously signed up as a user, fill in the required information. Once complete, you will see the abstract and have the option to view and download the full article with payment. We provide a copy of the article below for free. The quote about the bin Laden family being evacuated by the FBI for a flight home is highlighted in bold print for your viewing ease.


September 30, 2001

THE FAMILY

Fearing Harm, bin Laden Kin Fled From U.S.

By PATRICK E. TYLER

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 – In the first days after the terror attacks on New York and Washington, Saudi Arabia supervised the urgent evacuation of 24 members of Osama bin Laden's extended family from the United States, fearing that they might be subjected to violence.

In his first interview since the attacks, Saudi Ambassador Bandar bin Sultan, also said that private planes carrying the kingdom's deputy defense minister and the governor of Mecca, both members of the royal family, were grounded and initially caught up in the F.B.I. dragnet. Both planes, one jumbo jet carrying 100 family members, and the other 40, were eventually allowed to leave when airports reopened and passports were checked.

Mr. bin Laden is estranged from his family. One of his two brothers in the United States called the Saudi Embassy frantically looking for protection, the ambassador said. The brother was sent to a room in the Watergate Hotel and told not to open the door.

Most of Mr. bin Laden's relatives were attending high school and college. They are among the 4,000 Saudi students in the United States. King Fahd, the ailing Saudi ruler, sent an urgent message to his embassy here saying there were "bin Laden children all over America" and ordered, "Take measures to protect the innocents," the ambassador said.

The young members of the bin Laden clan were driven or flown under F.B.I. supervision to a secret assembly point in Texas and then to Washington from where they left the country on a private charter plane when airports reopened three days after the attacks. Many were terrified, fearing they could be "lynched," after hearing news reports of sporadic violence against Muslims and Arab-Americans.

"It's a tragedy," said Prince Bandar. "The elders" of the students "came to see me, and one of them was a bright boy from Harvard who like the others had absolutely nothing to do with this and yet we had to tell him to go home and wait until the emotions calmed down. And he told me that he never really appreciated why the Japanese wanted a memorial or an apology for their treatment in World War II."

The student added, according to the prince, "I understand now that when you are innocent, in the face of emotion nothing, not even common sense, can help argue your case."

As thousands of Americans were recoiling from the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Saudi Arabia's ambassador, a former fighter pilot who is dean of the diplomatic corps here, faced another kind of horror: America's staunchest ally in the Arab world was more prominently associated than ever before with Mr. bin Laden. In addition, a majority of the men who hijacked four airliners in the attacks carried Saudi passports.

"This is the worst thing that has ever happened to us," the prince told associates as the first images of the collapsing towers in New York registered the magnitude of the crime.

This dark prediction may or may not prove to be true. But Prince Bandar, who is enthusiastically pro- American, kicked into high diplomatic gear this week with a series of public appearances to bolster the image of Arab support for President Bush's coalition against terrorism.

It is not going to be easy, he concedes, as the Arab world is in a surly mood and the fight on terror has none of the clarity that rolling back the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein of Iraq had for many Arabs.

For this reason, Prince Bandar is also pressing the Arab world's message on Washington: that if the United States hopes to dry up the sources of terrorism in the region, it must get more deeply involved in the Arab- Israeli peace process. He said this would involve not only putting pressure on Israel, though increasingly he feels that is essential, but also on the Palestinians and their leader, Yasir Arafat.

"History will judge this coalition by how well you channel the anger into a positive result rather than just making it vengeance," he said.

Prince Bandar is also believed to be sending the clear message that key air bases in Saudi Arabia are likely to be available on a "don't ask, don't tell" basis, but he insists that the Bush administration has made no requests and has not laid out its plans. "The president said he is now in hot pursuit' of bin Laden, but they do not need Saudi bases to launch special forces on F-16's into Afghanistan," he said, adding "we have not been asked, therefore there is no point in answering hypothetical questions."

Surprisingly, Osama bin Laden was not a stranger even to a royal family member like Prince Bandar. In the early 1980's, bin Laden came to greet the prince and thank him for helping to build the coalition that fought against the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. Prince Bandar said that Saudi intelligence has constructed a psychological profile of Mr. bin Laden that portrays him as a loner in a large family. His mother, a Syrian, was set apart from other wives and the whisper of scandal that surrounded her may have deeply affected Osama bin Laden.

Mr. bin Laden is one of 52 children of a Yemeni-born migrant who made a vast fortune building roads and palaces in Saudi Arabia. Many have been educated in the United States and the family has donated millions of dollars to American universities.

Saudi Arabia revoked his citizenship in 1994 after he was caught smuggling weapons from Yemen. When the time comes for the military campaign to root him out, Prince Bandar has told the administration that the kingdom will play the role of loyal ally, but the "diplomatic game," as the prince called it, is to focus the Bush White House on how much preparation is required if it hopes to hold the support on moderate Arab states.

In particular, the Saudi prince said, he would like to see some American "anger" channeled at those who have obstructed or filibustered the peace process on both sides.

He accused some Israelis of trying to exploit the attacks on America as a means to discredit the Arab position. "Don't tell me that blowing up innocent people's houses is a fight against terrorism," the Prince said, referring to Israeli policies to destroy the homes and property of Palestinians who carry out attacks.

The prince said that his government condemns Palestinian suicide bombers, but said that attacks on Israeli security forces are justified because these are "resisting occupation."

"When the peace process is moving, people are willing to accept a lot," he said. "But when the peace process is stalled and this is coupled with Israeli behavior that is humiliating to Palestinians and people see this day in and day out while America takes a standoffish attitude – all of this creates a harsh reality on the streets.

"The answer is to get moving," he said. "If the Arabs screw up, tell us. If Israel screws up, tell it."


FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

What you can do:
  • Inform your media and political representatives of this vital information on 9/11. To contact those close to you, click here. Urge them to call for the release of classified documents and videos and to press for a new, impartial investigation.
  • Explore the wealth of reliable, verifiable information on 9/11, including several excellent documentaries, in our 9/11 Information Center available here.
  • Learn more about 9/11 and the secret societies likely involved in this powerful lesson from the free Insight Course.
  • Explore inspiring ideas on building a brighter future by reading this short essay.
  • Spread this news to your friends and colleagues, and recommend this article on key social networking websites so that we can fill the role at which the major media is sadly failing. Together, we can make a difference.

See our exceptional archive of revealing news articles.

Please support this important work: Donate here.

Explore the mind and heart expanding websites managed by the nonprofit PEERS network:
www.peerservice.org - PEERS websites: Spreading inspiration, education, & empowerment
www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a heart
www.personalgrowthcourses.net - Dynamic online courses powerfully expand your horizons
www.WantToKnow.info - Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups
www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all

Subscribe here to the WantToKnow.info email list (two messages a week)