10. Musaid: Interviews with two of his former Berkeley professors. LSD conviction:
11. DOS 59/2584 Jeddah to Washington, September 26, 1973, “Prince Fahd, the King, and the Inner Circle”; Jeddah to Washington, April 18, 1973. Miss Arabia: Jeddah to Washington, November 5, 1970.
12. Interview with a former senior diplomat in Riyadh who spoke on condition that he would not to be identified. Fahd had “a great sense of humor, loved jokes,” he said, “and he was a very self-indulgent and ill- disciplined man who never kept to the point. He had a bad habit of rambling on and on and on in meetings.”
13. DOS 59/2585 Jeddah to Washington, August 29, 1972, “Discussion with Prince Fahd.”
14. DOS 59/2472 Jeddah to Washington, June 12, 1968, “Biographical Sketch of Crown Prince Khalid.”
12. THE RISING SON
1. “I just farted…a kid”: Interview with Mohamed Ashmawi, November 26, 2005 (RS).
2. Interview with a friend and former employee of Salem who spoke on the condition that he would not be identified.
3. All quotations are from Heckmann,
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. This account of Fahd’s winter camps is drawn primarily from three former employees of Salem’s who attended or worked in the camps. Two of these people spoke on the condition that they not be identified. The third was Bengt Johansson, interviewed on October 3, 2006.
7. The anecdote about what Salem told Fahd and all of the quotations are from a recorded interview with the person cited in note 2.
8. The date of the MU-2 purchase is from interviews with Johansson, op. cit., and Gerald Auerbach, April 7, 2005. “You are crazy…these days”: Interview with Jack Hinson, May 10, 2005.
9. “The question was…do the job”: Interview with Rupert Armitage, September 19, 2006.
10. “We’ve gotten paid”: Interview with Johansson, op. cit.
11. Ibid.
12. The description of the money runs is from flight records and interviews with Auerbach, op. cit.; David Grey, February 21, 2006; and two other former employees of the aviation department who spoke on the condition that they would not be identified.
13. Interview with Ashmawi, op. cit.
14. Interview with Terry Bennett, December 2005 (RS).
15. “Don’t worry…immediate bond”: Interview with Gail Freeman, April 27, 2006. Less than comfortable circumstances: Interview with Auerbach, op. cit. Three-story town house: Interview with Sabry Ghoneim, November 14, 2005 (RS). Their relationship: Interviews with multiple friends and employees of Salem, including Johansson, who said: “It wasn’t sexual, but emotional, maybe. She had a very big influence on him, and she was giving him a lot of headache, too.” Peter Blum, who later served as Salem’s personal assistant, added in an interview, “She was one of the most important persons to Salem…like the father and daughter.”
16. “He pushed Randa”: Interview with Ghoneim, op. cit.
17. Skeletons from Saudi Arabia: Interview with Ashmawi, op. cit.
18. Interviews with pilots Hinson, op. cit., and Grey, op. cit. “He was very protective of his sisters,” Gail Freeman said in an interview, op. cit.
19. Interview with Ghoneim, op. cit.
20. Interviews with Auerbach, Hinson, and Grey, op. cit.
21. “pulling back…any time now”: Interview with Wayne Fagan, May 10, 2005.
22. “When I saw…brother is a member”: Interview with Anwar Khan, May 6, 2006 (RS). Caroline was the passenger, promised to convert to Islam: Interview with a person close to the family who asked not to be identified.
23. “People were forever…I’ll sign it!”: Interview with Armitage, op. cit.
24. “the sensation…on the edge”: Interview with Don Sowell, June 2, 2005. “perfect approach”: Interview with Khan, op. cit.
25. “That would be the end”: Interview with Robert Freeman, April 27, 2006.
26. Piper, Medina accidents: Interviews with Bin Laden pilots. “I was telling God…one little engine”: Interview with Johansson, op. cit.
27. Plane inventory: Interviews with several pilots who worked at Bin Laden Aviation or for Bin Mahfouz. “Salem believed”: Interview with a Lebanese friend who spoke on condition that he would not be identified.
28. Interview with Johansson, op. cit.
29. “loose ends…a family, together”: Interview with Armitage, op. cit.
30. “very subservient…the king”: Interview with Hinson, op. cit. “No one did…time and time again”: Interview with Grey, op. cit. That Salem alone controlled salaries, allowances, and assignments is confirmed by another employee who asked not to be identified.
31. Aramco report: Telephone interview with Mike Ameen, who has retained a copy of the report, March 1, 2006. “He was perfect”: Interview with Francis Hunnewell, August 9, 2006.
32. Dates and places of Sara and Salman’s births: “Application For Appointment of Administrator,” from Ian Munro, April 4, 1991, probate filings of Salem Bin Laden, Bexar County, Texas, 91-PC-1012.
33. Munro’s biography: Interview with a former Bin Laden business partner, and interview with Charles Schwartz, May 12, 2005. London companies, dates of formation, address: Filings with Companies House, London.
34. That Salem did not see Offley Chase before he bought it: Interview with the former business partner, op. cit. The estate and village: Author’s visit, interviews with numerous other visitors.
13. DISCOVERING AMERICA
1. Interview with Don Sowell, June 2, 2005. Author’s visit to Panama City, Sowell Aviation, Bay Point.
2. Ibid. Salem’s time in Panama City was also described by several other partners and pilots who visited him and Randa during this period, but the detailed account here is primarily from Sowell.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid. Jack Pizza declined to be interviewed. Anita Pizza spoke affectionately about Randa Bin Laden and other family members during several brief telephone conversations but ultimately declined to be interviewed.
5. “not too bubbly, not too flat”: Interviews with two former employees of Salem and Khalid Bin Mahfouz who asked not to be further identified. “sent myself…flew it back”: Sowell interview, ibid.
6. Academy Awards party: Interview with Jack Hinson, May 10, 2005, and interview with Dave Whitney, February 20, 2006. Oktoberfest: Interview with Thomas Dietrich, April 12, 2006. Wedding of Sadat’s daughter: Interview with Rupert Armitage, September 19, 2006.
7. Armored Cadillacs: Interview with Robert and Gail Freeman, April 27, 2006. Lincolns, Tabasco sauce, Mello Yello, airplane toys: Interview with Sowell, op. cit. Cacti and other plants:
8. All quotations: Interview with Sowell, op. cit. Fifty thousand dollars: Interview with Freeman, op. cit.
9. Bath’s background and appearance: Interviews with seven former business acquaintances or partners. Civil litigation files also provide a rich portrait of his life during these years, particularly
