41. Estimates of Al Qaeda budgeting, late 1990s: Ibid., pp. 18, 28. Omar’s palace, mosque, shopping market: Author’s visit to Kandahar, 2002. Even these Al Qaeda budget figures are at best approximations, little more than educated guesses. As the authors of the monograph, who systematically reviewed U.S. intelligence in this area, conceded, “There is much the U.S. government did not know (and still does not know) about Bin Laden’s resources and how Al Qaeda raises, moves, and spends its money.”
35. BIN LADEN ISLAND
1. “There’s only one sheikh…family”: Interview with an individual close to the Bin Laden family, who asked to not be identified. The portrait of Bakr that follows is drawn primarily from interviews with this person and three other people, who asked to not be identified, who interacted with Bakr during this period.
2. Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Amman Grand Hyatt: Saudi Bin Laden Group Web site pages printed by Peter Bergen in the summer of 2001 and shared with the author. United Medical Group: www.umgco.com, examined and typed, July 20, 2006.
3. Badging policy, severance policy: Saudi Bin Laden Group employment policy documents filed in
4. Interviews with individuals close to the family who asked to not be identified.
5. Caudill, “Twilight in the Hejaz” (manuscript), pp. 138–39.
6. Agence France Presse, February 18, 2001;
7. Ibid. The exchange was reported in the same way by multiple British journalists, all of whom were traveling in Saudi Arabia with Prince Charles at the time and all of whom sourced the exchange to a person present at the event.
8. Preferred the plural “Faiths”:
9.
10. Interviews with three individuals familiar with the contacts with State and Bush. Also Daniel Golden, James Bandler, Marcus Walker,
11. Meetings with Carter, donations: E-mail communication from Deanna Congileo, the Carter Center, October 12, 2005. One of only two trips to the U.S. since 1973: Affidavit of Bakr Bin Laden,
12. “for as long…acts of violence”: Police report of Michele Smith filed in
13. All documents and quotations, ibid.
14. The Marina, Bin Laden Island: Interviews with visitors, including Yahia Agaty, November 19, 2005 (RS) and a second individual who asked to not be identified. Robin Shulman visited and photographed the resort.
15.
16. “theater…superterrorist”: Ibid.
17. Ibid., pp. 154–55.
18. Wedding video:
19. Ibid., p. 255.
20. Ibid., p. 256.
21. Ibid.
36. THE NAME
1. Interview with Jason Blum and Ricardo Pascetta, July 1, 2007 (KH). Interview with Ricardo Pascetta, June 2, 2007 (KH).
2. Interview with Blum, ibid.
3. “how horribile…at her”: Ibid. “violence…Islam”: Redacted FBI documents released and published by Judicial Watch as a result of its FOIA filings and lawsuit,
4. Interview with Blum, op. cit.
5. “The guy turned…out of here”: All quotations from interview with Blum, ibid. The circumstances of the flight crew’s revolt were also described by Pascetta, op. cit.
6. The other groups of Saudi royals: Judicial Watch documents, op. cit. That Bandar did not discuss the flights with Bush, and “Those people…no problem”: Simpson,
7. Interview with Fred Dutton, May 24, 2005. Dutton died about a month after this interview, on June 25, 2005, at the age of eighty-two.
8. “what to do…bad apple”: Interview with Dutton, ibid.
9. All quotations, ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. The meeting, “solicitous and kind”: Interview with Chas Freeman, June 15, 2005.
12. Ibid.
13. Yeslam has given several similar interviews describing his experiences and thinking on September 11 and afterward. See, for example,
14. “Bin Laden’s half-brother condemns U.S. attacks,”
15. “the possibility…Saudi Arabia”:
16. “The strong…Islamic faith”:
17. “Even if I do not condone…deserve it”: Interview with Bassim Alim, February 21, 2005.
18. “a large amount…his family”: From FBI documents released by Judicial Watch, op. cit.
19. Interview with Blum, op. cit.
20. Ibid.
21. Redactions in the FBI documents released to Judicial Watch make it difficult to be certain about the identity of the Washington passenger who was not interviewed. There were only five Washington passengers, however; of these, two were Shafiq and Akber Moawalla, who were clearly interviewed. Two others were college age. The fifth was Omar, who was then thirty-one years old.
22. Interviews with Blum and Pascetta, op. cit.
