Free Republic

When Osama bin Laden was banished from Sudan in 1996, he left the country in a rented Soviet jet — an aged and antique Tupolev flown by a Russian pilot he did not trust. With him were a few bodyguards, his military commander, Saif al-Adel, and two sons named Sa’ad and Omar — both young men in their late teens. Although it was the corrupt Islamic government of Sudan that had robbed Osama bin Laden of much of his vast personal wealth, he blamed America for his misfortunes, according to Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright. “He held America responsible for the...

German investigators say they have evidence that Mohamed Atta, the suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, and two accomplices trained at Qaeda camps in Afghanistan from late 1999 to early 2000. They have also established a clear link between Al Qaeda and a recent attack on a Tunisian synagogue, a top official said. The timing of the Afghanistan training, outlined yesterday by a senior investigator, provides the strongest evidence so far that plans for the attacks on the United States were worked out there. Less than six months after leaving Afghanistan, Mr. Atta and the other two men...

FRANCE today confirmed that recent arrests made in two southern cities were connected to investigations into the al-Qaeda network, as three suspected members of a group close to Osama bin Laden's network went before an Italian court. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told Europe 21 radio that a series of recent arrests - eight in Lyon on Tuesday and one in Marseille last month - were connected to al-Qaeda. The eight arrested in Lyon are all family or friends of Nizar Nawar, who is believed to have carried out the April suicide attack on a synagogue in Tunisia. French police...