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After the First Gulf War, Islamic Fundamentalism in Saudi Arabia was handed a gift by the extended presence of coalition troops close to the Holy sites of Mecca and Medina. The Wahabi sect from the West of Saudi were particularly incensed and devised a plan to strike back at Western interests and the USA in particular. They were led by a wealthy Arab graduate named Osama Bin Laden, whose knowledge of architecture gave rise to a plan to destroy one of the most potent symbols of American power. With colossal funds supplied by wealthy Arab benefactors, The Al-Qaeda Menace looks at how Bin Laden built an international network of trained terrorists.
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00:00September 11, 2001. The sky is above New York.
00:12Two hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center,
00:16engulfing the massive twin towers in flame
00:19and bringing them down in an overwhelming torrent of smoke and rubble.
00:24As the world looks on in horror,
00:272,700 people die in the worst terrorist attack in history.
00:34The American dream is shattered and a new dawn of fear is born.
00:39But who's behind the outrage?
00:42And where will they strike next?
00:56September 11, 2001. New York, mid-morning.
01:23The twin towers of the World Trade Center,
01:29iconic symbols of U.S. wealth and power,
01:31have just been reduced to smoldering heaps of rubble
01:34after being struck by two hijacked passenger planes.
01:40The news comes through that the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.,
01:44the heart of the U.S. defense establishment,
01:46has also been hit by a plane.
01:49184 people die.
01:55And yet another plane has crashed mysteriously
01:58into a field in Pennsylvania.
02:00All 44 people on board are dead.
02:05Both planes had also been hijacked.
02:07The death toll has now risen to just under 3,000 people.
02:14As the world reels in shock at the appalling loss of life,
02:18everyone wants to know who's behind the attacks and why.
02:25It's not long before they find out.
02:27Within a few hours, the FBI has identified most of the hijackers.
02:35They all belong to one of the most deadly terrorist organizations
02:38the world has ever known.
02:40Al-Qaeda.
02:43And before the day is out,
02:45National Security Agency intercepts all point to one man.
02:49Al-Qaeda's fanatical and hate-filled leader,
02:52Osama bin Laden.
02:53But he totally denies any involvement
02:57in what becomes known the world over
02:59as 9-11.
03:04Osama bin Laden
03:05and his terror group, Al-Qaeda,
03:08have been waging war on the West
03:09since the early 1990s.
03:13The son of a Saudi Arabian construction billionaire,
03:17bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda in 1989
03:20following the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan
03:23where they'd been fighting a losing battle since 1979.
03:28The Soviets first went into Afghanistan
03:31in order to prop up the failing pro-communist government.
03:36But Afghanistan is a Muslim country
03:38and the invasion by the Soviets,
03:41regarded as non-believers,
03:42causes outrage.
03:45Within a few weeks,
03:47hardline Muslims from all over the world
03:48are making their way to Afghanistan.
03:53There they will disappear into the mountains
03:55and join forces with Afghan guerrillas,
03:58the Mujahideen,
03:59in a jihad,
04:00or holy war,
04:02against the Soviets and the Afghan army.
04:06Bin Laden is among them.
04:08He sets up camp in neighbouring Pakistan
04:12and, using the expertise gained in his father's company,
04:16as well as apparently limitless funds,
04:19he supplies the equipment the guerrillas need
04:21to build roads, tunnels,
04:23and even makeshift hospitals in the mountains.
04:25It's also not long before Bin Laden
04:32is recruiting fellow Arab Muslims
04:33in the struggle to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan.
04:37They become known as Afghan Arabs.
04:43Ironically, at the time,
04:44he's enthusiastically supported
04:46by the US, Saudi Arabian,
04:48and Pakistan governments.
04:50They, too, want rid of the Soviets from Afghanistan,
04:57but they don't want to become
04:59actively involved themselves.
05:03The conflict now settles
05:05into a bloody war of attrition,
05:07with the Soviets and Afghan government forces
05:09controlling the urban areas
05:11while the guerrillas reign free in the mountains.
05:16In 1989,
05:18after ten years
05:19and mounting losses,
05:21the Soviets have had enough
05:22and withdraw.
05:25The Afghan government collapses
05:27and the Mujahideen take over.
05:31While Bin Laden is gratified,
05:34he is now left without a cause.
05:36So he turns his extremist attention elsewhere,
05:40focusing in particular
05:41on the US,
05:43a country he has come to hate
05:44because of its support for Israel.
05:46In order to carry the fight forward,
05:51Bin Laden now forms his own
05:52deadly international terrorist organization.
05:56He calls it
05:57Al-Qaeda,
05:58or the base.
06:04To start with,
06:05Al-Qaeda operates out of the Sudan,
06:07with Bin Laden shifting his entire organization
06:10there from Pakistan,
06:11when the government makes it clear
06:13he and his fanatical followers
06:14are no longer welcome.
06:20Now he concentrates on building up
06:22a secret terrorist army.
06:24It consists mainly of Afghan Arabs,
06:27but soon they are joined by others,
06:30including Algerians,
06:31Syrians,
06:32Iraqis,
06:33and Saudis.
06:34As well as being thoroughly indoctrinated
06:37in the belief that Islam should rule the world,
06:40Al-Qaeda's new recruits
06:41are taught a range of deadly skills,
06:44including bomb-making,
06:45handling terrorist weapons of every kind,
06:47from handguns to rocket launchers,
06:50spying,
06:51suicide bombs,
06:52hijacking,
06:53and assassination.
06:55Above all,
06:57they're taught to hate the US.
07:00August 2nd, 1990,
07:03Kuwait.
07:06Saddam Hussein,
07:08the psychopathic dictator of Iraq,
07:10invades the tiny,
07:11oil-rich country of Kuwait.
07:15But he has not reckoned
07:17on military intervention from the West.
07:18And by early March 1991,
07:22after a humiliating defeat,
07:24he's back in Baghdad,
07:26after an overwhelming US-led coalition
07:28has kicked him out of Kuwait.
07:34But as they celebrate their decisive victory,
07:37the US could have had no idea
07:39that they had inadvertently
07:41taken the first steps to 9-11.
07:43Because of the strategic and economic threat
07:49posed by Saddam,
07:51the rulers of Saudi Arabia,
07:53the world's largest oil producer,
07:55allowed coalition forces
07:56to be stationed in their country.
07:59And now, with the war over,
08:01they're happy for them
08:02to maintain their bases
08:03in the Desert Kingdom.
08:06This shocks bin Laden,
08:08who by now has returned to Saudi Arabia,
08:11where he's received as a hero
08:12for his part against the Soviets
08:14in Afghanistan.
08:18As a devout Muslim,
08:20he's incensed that US troops,
08:22whom he regards as non-believers,
08:24are to remain in the land
08:26which houses the Islamic religion's
08:27holy shrines in Mecca and Medina.
08:33Bin Laden now vows
08:34to do everything in his power
08:35to drive the Americans
08:36out of Saudi Arabia,
08:38the birthplace of Islam.
08:40And because they allowed it
08:43to happen in the first place,
08:45bin Laden is also determined
08:46to depose Saudi Arabia's
08:48powerful royal family,
08:49headed by King Fahd.
08:54Then bin Laden plans to install
08:56a fundamentalist Islamic regime
08:58in Saudi Arabia
08:59and take the country
09:00back to its roots.
09:01In 1992,
09:06furious at bin Laden's
09:07persistent criticism,
09:09King Fahd revokes
09:10his citizenship
09:10and bans him
09:12from re-entering Saudi Arabia
09:13following his latest trip
09:15back to the Sudan.
09:21Bin Laden now spends
09:22the next four years
09:24nurturing al-Qaeda
09:25whilst looking for targets.
09:27Top of his hit list
09:28is the US
09:29not just because
09:30of its presence
09:31in Saudi Arabia
09:32but also because
09:33of its continuing support
09:34for Israel
09:35at the expense
09:36of the Palestinian Arabs.
09:43In the eyes of the people
09:45who hate America,
09:46few things symbolize
09:48the country's power
09:49and commercial dominance
09:50more than the World Trade Center
09:52in New York.
09:53The 110-storey twin buildings
09:58stand nearly 1,400 feet high
10:00and have dominated
10:02the Manhattan skyline
10:03since completion in 1973.
10:08February the 26th, 1993,
10:12New York, midday.
10:14A massive bomb explodes
10:16in the World Trade Center's
10:17underground car park
10:18blowing a crater 200 feet wide.
10:21However, the building
10:23holds firm
10:24but six people
10:25have been killed
10:26and more than a thousand
10:27injured
10:28in the first Islamist attack
10:30on US soil.
10:36The bomb had been placed
10:38by Ramzi Youssef,
10:39a 26-year-old Kuwaiti Arab.
10:47Following the attack,
10:48the US security forces
10:49are on high alert.
10:51Although Bin Laden claims
10:52he had no knowledge
10:53of Youssef or his intentions,
10:55it seems obvious
10:56Al-Qaeda was pulling his strings.
10:59And everyone is convinced
11:01that it won't be long
11:02before the terror group
11:03strikes at the US again.
11:08Meanwhile, in 1996,
11:11after being put under extreme pressure
11:13by the US government,
11:14Sudan expels Bin Laden.
11:19And on May the 18th,
11:21accompanied by no more
11:22than a handful of his men,
11:24he arrives in the city
11:25of Jalalabad in Afghanistan.
11:29The next stage
11:30of 38-year-old Bin Laden's life
11:32is about to begin.
11:36Much of the rugged,
11:38mountainous country
11:39of Afghanistan
11:39is now run
11:41by the Taliban,
11:42a group of extreme Islamists.
11:48In Bin Laden,
11:49the Taliban recognize
11:50a kindred spirit
11:51and they're happy
11:52to let him set up
11:53training camps
11:54run on the same lines
11:55as those in the Sudan.
12:00Once they've finished training
12:01and left the camps,
12:03Al-Qaeda members operate
12:04on a loosely organized
12:05cell basis,
12:06having little or no contact
12:08with the hierarchy.
12:11August 7th, 1998,
12:13Nairobi, Kenya.
12:17On the anniversary
12:19of US troops arriving
12:20in Saudi Arabia
12:21eight years earlier,
12:22Al-Qaeda terrorists
12:24strike not once
12:24but twice on the same day.
12:31213 people,
12:32including 12 US personnel,
12:34are killed
12:35when a truck carrying
12:362,000 pounds of TNT
12:38is detonated
12:39close to the US embassy.
12:45A few minutes later,
12:46another truck loaded
12:47with explosive
12:48arrives outside
12:49the US embassy
12:50in Dar es Salaam,
12:51Tanzania.
12:54Eleven people are killed
12:55and 85 wounded
12:57in the ensuing blast.
13:01US President Bill Clinton
13:02now orders Bin Laden's arrest
13:05and freezes any assets
13:06which can be linked to him.
13:11Now the US Department of State
13:12places a $5 million bounty
13:14on his head.
13:18But it's to no avail.
13:20He's too well hidden
13:21and he's too well protected.
13:23Although, as the founder,
13:29Bin Laden has always been regarded
13:30as the driving force
13:31behind Al-Qaeda,
13:33he does not work alone.
13:35He's supported
13:36by a small number
13:37of key operatives
13:38upon whom he greatly relies.
13:42Chief among them
13:43is his second-in-command,
13:45Ayman al-Zawahiri,
13:46an Egyptian surgeon
13:47who'd spent time in jail
13:49for his role
13:50in the assassination
13:50of the President of Egypt,
13:52Anwar Sadat,
13:53in October 1981.
13:56Another one of Al-Qaeda's
13:58leading members
13:58is Mohammed Atif,
14:00its military commander.
14:02Atif,
14:02whose daughter
14:03would marry Bin Laden's son,
14:05was believed to be
14:05the strategic mastermind
14:07behind 9-11.
14:10He will eventually be killed
14:12in November 2001
14:13during a U.S. airstrike
14:15on Kabul, Afghanistan.
14:19Meanwhile,
14:20even more Muslim fanatics
14:21from all over the world
14:22flock to join the ranks
14:24of Al-Qaeda.
14:29October 12, 2000,
14:31Aden, the Yemen,
14:3211.15 in the morning.
14:36As the USS Cole,
14:38a state-of-the-art
14:38American destroyer,
14:40is getting underway.
14:41It's hit by Al-Qaeda
14:42suicide bombers
14:43in a small boat.
14:45The 17 sailors die,
14:47and 39 are injured
14:48in the blast.
14:53Now, even more recruits
14:55rush to join the cause,
14:57and money floods in
14:58from disaffected Arabs
14:59in the Gulf states.
15:02But even as he basks
15:04in the success
15:04of the attack
15:05on the USS Cole,
15:07Bin Laden and the rest
15:08of Al-Qaeda's
15:08high command
15:09know that in order
15:10to make a lasting impression,
15:12they're going to have
15:13to pull off a coup
15:14which will strike
15:15at the very heart
15:16of America.
15:19In November 2000,
15:20George W. Bush
15:21wins the U.S. election.
15:23He will take over
15:24from Clinton
15:25the following January.
15:26Nine months later,
15:31Bush will be tested
15:32to the limit.
15:34Little did he,
15:36or anyone else
15:37in the U.S. administration,
15:38realize
15:39that as he enters
15:40the White House,
15:42Al-Qaeda is already
15:43meticulously planning
15:44the most devastating
15:45terrorist attack
15:46the world has ever seen.
15:48September the 11th, 2001,
15:59New York,
16:008.45 in the morning.
16:04An American Airlines,
16:05Boeing 767,
16:07is hurtling
16:07towards the World Trade Center.
16:11Seconds later,
16:12it strikes the north side
16:13of the North Tower
16:14and the building erupts
16:15in a ball of flame.
16:18Seventeen minutes later,
16:20a United Airlines,
16:21Boeing 767,
16:22crashes into the South Tower.
16:25The results
16:25are just as devastating.
16:31At 9.38 a.m.,
16:33an American Airlines,
16:34Boeing 757,
16:35is flown into the Pentagon,
16:37Washington, D.C.,
16:38the heart of America's
16:39military establishment.
16:40Then a United Airlines,
16:45Boeing 757,
16:46crashes into a field
16:47near Shanksville,
16:48Pennsylvania.
16:50It was thought to be
16:51heading for the Capitol
16:51building in Washington, D.C.
16:56All four planes
16:57had been hijacked
16:58shortly after takeoff.
17:00Now,
17:00everyone on board
17:01is dead,
17:02including 19 hijackers.
17:08In New York,
17:09the World Trade Center
17:11Twin Towers
17:11are burning fiercely.
17:15At 9.59 a.m.,
17:17an hour and a quarter
17:17after being hit
17:18by the hijacked plane,
17:20the unimaginable happens,
17:22and the South Tower
17:23of the World Trade Center
17:24collapses,
17:25sending a huge tidal wave
17:27of choking smoke
17:28and dust
17:29across Manhattan.
17:30Then,
17:4729 minutes later,
17:49the North Tower
17:50goes down
17:50in the same way.
17:51once thought to be
18:06indestructible,
18:07the enormous structures
18:09were designed and built
18:10to withstand anything
18:11the weather could throw at them,
18:12including 150-mile-an-hour hurricanes.
18:15But no one
18:18in their wildest imagination
18:20could foresee the day
18:22when two huge passenger planes,
18:24each loaded with thousands
18:25of gallons of fuel,
18:27would be deliberately
18:27flown into them.
18:29The two 1,400-feet-high towers
18:37were constructed
18:38of lightweight steel
18:39and concrete
18:40around a central core
18:41which supported
18:42the entire weight
18:43of the building
18:44and anchored
18:45on bedrock 65-feet
18:47below the surface.
18:50Unlike other skyscrapers,
18:52the strength
18:53of the Twin Towers
18:54lay in an outer framework
18:55consisting of 244
18:58closely spaced
18:59steel columns
19:00rather than
19:01internal concrete supports.
19:09These columns
19:10had been designed
19:10to withstand temperatures
19:11of 500 degrees centigrade
19:13for up to three hours.
19:17But as the fire
19:18took hold,
19:20the temperature
19:20rose to more than
19:211,000 degrees centigrade.
19:24This did not cause
19:25the steel perimeter columns
19:26to melt.
19:27as was supposed
19:28for a while later.
19:30Instead,
19:30they buckled,
19:32putting an intolerable strain
19:33on the rest of the load-bearing structures
19:35within the buildings.
19:37With nothing to support them,
19:39each of the weakened floors
19:40now started falling
19:42like a pack of cards
19:43on the floor below,
19:44picking up speed
19:45with terrifying momentum.
19:47As it becomes obvious
19:54that Al-Qaeda
19:54was responsible
19:55for the outrage,
19:56the FBI now mounts
19:58their largest
19:58and most comprehensive
19:59investigation ever.
20:03By September 27th,
20:05they had identified
20:06all 19 men involved
20:08in hijacking
20:08the four planes,
20:10including the person
20:11believed to be
20:11the ringleader,
20:12Muhammad Atta.
20:13Meanwhile,
20:18back in Afghanistan,
20:19bin Laden
20:19and his high command
20:20gloat over the success
20:22of the operation.
20:25But he knows
20:26it won't be long
20:27before the Americans
20:27come looking for him.
20:29And now,
20:33he has a $25 million
20:34price on his head.
20:39Convinced
20:39that the Taliban
20:40are sheltering bin Laden,
20:42President Bush
20:43orders a series
20:43of devastating
20:44B-52 airstrikes
20:46on their strongholds
20:47in Afghanistan,
20:49including Tora Bora,
20:50a vast underground network
20:52of tunnels and caves.
20:53ground troops
20:59would later uncover
21:01more than a hundred bodies.
21:03Eighteen of them
21:03were leading members
21:04of Al-Qaeda.
21:08But the elusive bin Laden
21:09is not amongst them.
21:11He had already slipped
21:12across the border
21:13into Pakistan.
21:16Meanwhile,
21:17despite having lost
21:18its main power base
21:19in Afghanistan,
21:21Al-Qaeda still remains
21:22a potent terrorist force.
21:25It is thought
21:26to run a worldwide
21:27network of cells
21:28in up to 50 countries,
21:30not just in the Middle East
21:31and beyond,
21:32but also including
21:33the US, Britain,
21:35Germany, Italy,
21:35and Spain.
21:38Many of the terrorist
21:39outrages which have
21:40occurred around the world
21:41since 9-11
21:42have been laid
21:43at Al-Qaeda's door.
21:52October 12th, 2002,
21:56Bali, Indonesia.
22:03Suicide bombers
22:04target two packed nightclubs,
22:07killing 202 people,
22:09many of them
22:09Australian tourists
22:10and injuring 209.
22:14It's the deadliest terror strike
22:16ever carried out
22:17in Indonesia.
22:18March 11th, 2004,
22:30Madrid, Spain.
22:35In the worst ever
22:36Islamic terrorist attack
22:38on mainland Europe,
22:39191 people are killed
22:41and nearly 2,000 injured
22:43when 10 bombs
22:44explode within minutes
22:45of each other
22:46on four trains
22:47at the height
22:47of the morning rush hour.
22:52At first,
22:53the Spanish authorities
22:54thought it was
22:55the work of ETA,
22:56the hardline
22:56Basque separatist group.
23:05However,
23:05when the perpetrators,
23:06all Muslims,
23:07are eventually
23:08brought to justice,
23:10they turn out
23:10to have links
23:11with Al-Qaeda.
23:17July 7th, 2005,
23:21London, England.
23:24Four suicide bombers
23:25strike three crowded
23:27underground trains
23:28and a bus
23:28during rush hour.
23:3152 people die
23:32in the terrifying blasts
23:33and a further
23:34700 are injured.
23:36A few hours later,
23:38Al-Qaeda claims
23:39responsibility
23:39for the outrage.
23:40But things would not
23:45always go their way.
23:46In June 2006,
23:48Abu Musab al-Zaqawi,
23:50one of the terror group's
23:51most senior commanders,
23:53was killed in a U.S.
23:54airstrike
23:54on a safe house
23:55near the Iraqi city
23:57of Bakuba.
23:59While operating in Iraq,
24:01following the U.S.-led invasion
24:03in March 2003,
24:05Zaqawi was responsible
24:06for some of Al-Qaeda's
24:07most violent outrages,
24:09including the beheading
24:10of kidnapped foreign workers.
24:15Since Osama bin Laden
24:16founded Al-Qaeda
24:17in 1989,
24:19it has become
24:20the deadliest
24:21international terrorist
24:22organization
24:23the world has ever known.
24:24However,
24:37despite the countless deaths
24:39and wanton destruction
24:40caused by Al-Qaeda
24:41since launching
24:42its terror campaign,
24:44it has,
24:45in common with
24:45similar organizations
24:47down through the ages,
24:48failed to achieve
24:49any of its main
24:50political aims.
24:51the U.S. remains
24:54heavily involved
24:55in the Middle East.
24:57Its successive presidents
24:58still support Israel.
25:00The royal family
25:01still reigns supreme
25:02in Saudi Arabia.
25:05And hardly any countries
25:06have adopted
25:06hardline Islamic fundamentalism
25:08as a way of government.
25:11None of the world's
25:13true democracies
25:14are yielding to terror.
25:16Governments are continuing
25:17to protect their citizens
25:18both at home
25:19and around the world
25:20by striking back hard,
25:22keeping the purveyors
25:23of violence
25:23such as Al-Qaeda
25:24at bay
25:25until they cease
25:27to be a problem,
25:28like so many organizations
25:29before them.
25:49to be continued...
26:08to be continued...
26:08to be continued...
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