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Copyright
1999
The New
York
Times
Company
The New
York
TimesView Related
Topics
April
13,
1999,
Tuesday,
Late
Edition
-
Final
SECTION:
Section
A;
Page
1;
Column
1;
Foreign Desk
LENGTH:
2424 words
HEADLINE:
U.S. Hard Put to Find Proof Bin Laden Directed Attacks
BYLINE:
ByTIMWEINER
BODY:
American
commandos are poised near the Afghan border, hoping to capture Osama
bin
Laden,
the man
charged with blowing
up two
American embassies
in
Africa eightmonths ago, senior American officials say.But
they
still
do not
know
how to
find
him. They
are
depending
on his
protectors
in
Afghanistantobetrayhim — aslim reedofhopefor one of thebiggestandmostcomplicated international criminal investigations
in
American
history.
Capturing Mr. bin Laden alive could deepen the complications. American officials say
that
so
far,
firsthand
evidence
that
could
be
used
in
court
to
prove
that
he
commanded
the
bombings
has
proven difficult
to
obtain. According
to the
publicrecord, none
of the
informants involved
in the
case
have
direct
knowledge
of Mr. bin
Laden's
involvement.
For
now, officials say, Federal prosecutors appear to be
building
a
case
that
hisviolent words and ideas, broadcast from an Afghan cave, incited
terrorist
actsthousands of miles away.
In
their
war
against
Mr. bin
Laden, American officials portray
him as the
world's mostdangerous
terrorist.
But reporters for The New York Times and the PBS program
"Frontline,"
workingincooperation, have foundhim to belessacommanderofterrorists than
an
inspiration
for
them.
Enemies
and
supporters, from members
of the
Saudi opposition
to
present
and
former American intelligence officials, say he may not be as globally powerful assome American officials have asserted. But his message and aims have more
resonance
among Muslims around the world than has been understood here.
"You
can
kill
Osama
bin
Laden today
or
tomorrow;
you can
arrest
him and put him
on
trial
in New York or in Washington," said Ahmed
Sattar,
an aide to Sheik Omar
Abdel
Rahman,
the
blind Egyptian cleric convicted
of
inspiring
the
bombing
of the
World
Trade Center
in
1993.
"If
this
will
end the
problem
— no.
Tomorrow
you
will
get
somebody else."
Interviews
with
senior American officials
and
knowledgeable observers
of Mr. bin
Laden
in Pakistan, Sudan and elsewhere suggest
that
there is widespread supportamong ordinary people
in the
Muslim world
for his
central political argument:
that
 
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December
31,
2003
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PROFILES
THE MANBEHINDBINLADEN
by LAWRENCE WRIGHT
How
an Egyptian doctor became a master of terror.Issue
of
2002-09-16
Posted
2002-09-09
II—THE
MARTYR
In
1950,
the
year before Ayman
al-Zawahiri
was born, Sayyid
Qutb,
a well-known literarycritic in Cairo, returned home
after
spending
two
years at Colorado State College ofEducation, in Greeley. He had
left
Cairo as asecular writer who enjoyed a sinecure in theMinistry of Education. One of his earlydiscoveries
was a
young writer named Naguib
Mahfouz,
who won the 1988 Nobel Prize inLiterature. "Qutb was our friend,"
Mahfouz
recalled recently in Cairo. "When I wasgrowing
up, he was the first
critic
to
recognize
me."
Mahfouz,
who has been unable to writesince
1994,
whenhe wasstabbedandnearlykilled by Islamic fundamentalists, told me that
before
Qutb went to America he was at oddswith many of the sheikhs, who he thoughtwere
"out
of date." According to Mahfouz,
Qutb
saw himself as part of the modern
age,
and
he
wore
his
religion lightly.
His
greatpassionwasEgyptian nationalism,
and,
perhaps because of his strident opposition to
the
British occupation,
the
Ministry
of
Education
decided that he would be
safer
inAmerica.Qutb had studied American literature andpopular culture; the United States, in contrast
with
the European powers, seemed to him andotherEgyptian nationalists to be a
friendly
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12/31/2003
 
•
10/8/99:
Michael Sheehan, Secretary Albright's Designation
of
Foreign Terrorist
Organiz...
Page
1 of 9
Terrorism
Resources
Ambassador Michael SheehanCoordinator
for the
Office
of
Counterterrorism
Briefing,
Secretary Albright's Designation of Foreign Terrorist
Organizations
Washington,
DC,
October
8,1999
Secretary Albright's
Designation
of
Foreign
Terrorist
Organizations
MR.
RUBIN:
Now, if we could turn to the Secretary's designations on terrorism, there isastatement thatI amgoingtobriefly summarize undertheSecretary's name thatwewillprovide
you
after
thebriefing.
The Secretary designated 28 groups today. This is the second biannual designation under
the
Act. Ambassador Sheehan willgothroughthevarious groups that this appliesto.
These
designations have three main consequences, ensuring that it is a crime to provide
funds,
weapons or other types of tangible support to the designated organizations. Second,members and representatives of these organizations are ineligible for visas and are subject
to
exclusion
from
theUnited States. And, third,any
funds
that these organizations havein
our
country will be
frozen.
Through the good work of our counterterrorism coordinator, Michael Sheehan, the StateDepartment plays a key role in this
effort
to stop terrorism. That is why Secretary Albrightbelievesit isalarming that Congresshasjust votedtoslashour
funding
forcounterterrorism programs at a time of increased public concern
about
the terrorist threat
and
clear evidence that terrorists continue to target Americans, this action is directlycontraryto theinterestof ourcountryand is one of thereasonsthePresidenthassaidhe
would
veto the Foreign Operations Appropriation Bill.
With
those general comments, let me introduce you again to a regular briefer here in the
briefing
room, Ambassador Michael Sheehan. Thank you.
AMBASSADOR
SHEEHAN:
Thank you, Jamie. Let me expound upon Jamie's openingremarks and say a few words about the
Secretary's
designation of the
foreign
terroristorganizations, FTOsas weknow them,andthen reviewa fewother aspectsof ourcounterterrorism policy.
As
a member of the State Department, our role isn't always as glamorous as those of mycounterpartsin other agencies, FBI, CIA, the military, apprehending
criminals,
bringing
them
back on airplanes late at night. But we are, rather, the steady and the political,diplomatic
fight
against terrorism.
Often
unseen, slow grind, diplomatic slog thatIbelievereally pays dividends in the long term.http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/991008_sheehan_fto.html 12/10/2003
of 00

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