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By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 23, 2001
1957: He is born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, one of 20 sons of Mohammad Awad bin Laden, a construction magnate and favorite of the Saudi royal family.
1968: His father is killed in a plane crash, leaving him an inheritance of $30-million to $80-million.
1979: He graduates from King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah with a degree in civil engineering.
1980-89: He joins the resistance movement fighting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He meets a charismatic Islamic teacher named Abdalah Azzam, who becomes his mentor and later helps him found a group that becomes a terrorist network called al-Qaida (Arabic for "the base").
1989: With the Soviets conceding defeat and his mentor dead at the hands of an assassin, he returns to Saudi Arabia a hero and goes to work in the family business.
1990-94: He grows increasingly disenchanted with the corruption and religious views of the Saudi royal family, an anger that deepens after Iraq invades Kuwait in 1990. Bin Laden's offer to take on Iraq with recruits from the former "Afghan Arab" army is shunned by the Saudi royal family in favor of Western allied support. Like many other Muslims, he is offended by the presence of "infidel" American troops (especially women soldiers in pants) and their rock music.
Dec. 29, 1992: A bomb explodes in a hotel in Aden, Yemen, where U.S. troops had been staying. Two Austrian tourists are killed; the troops had already left. The United States says this was bin Laden's first attack.
Feb. 26, 1993: The World Trade Center is bombed, killing six. A year later, Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the bombing, is captured in Pakistan and extradited to the United States. Investigators conclude he is linked to bin Laden.
Oct. 3-4, 1993: Eighteen U.S. troops are killed in an attack in Somalia. A federal indictment charging that bin Laden trained and armed the killers is later dropped, but U.S. officials think he played a role.
1994: Under pressure from Europe and the United States, the Saudi government strips him of his Saudi nationality and the family business disavows him. He moves to Sudan, prospering in business while bringing war comrades to his terrorist network.
June 1995: He is linked to an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
1996: Expelled by the Sudanese government, he returns to Afghanistan at the invitation of the Taliban government, expands his al-Qaida network and declares holy war against America and the Saudi regime. He provides financing to groups around the world.
June 25, 1996: A bomb explodes in the Al-Khobar military barracks outside Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Dozens are killed, including 19 American servicemen. Bin Laden is not officially charged with the bombing but experts are convinced he was involved.
June 8, 1998: A U.S. grand jury indicts him, contending he is a major financier of terrorist attacks around the world.
Aug. 7, 1998: Bombs explode simultaneously at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The bomb in Nairobi, Kenya, kills 213 people and injures more than 4,500. The bomb in Dar es Salaam kills 11.
Aug. 20, 1998: U.S. cruise missiles attack suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, killing several people but missing bin Laden.
Nov. 4, 1998: A new indictment is issued against bin Laden, his chief military commander, Muhammad Atef, and other suspects. They are charged with the embassy bombings and conspiring to commit other acts of terrorism against Americans abroad. Rewards of $5-million each are offered for Atef and bin Laden.
May 29, 2001: Four bin Laden followers are found guilty in the embassy bombings.
Sept. 11, 2001: Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon kill more than 6,000 people. Bin Laden applauds the attacks but disavows any role. The Bush administration declares that he is the "prime suspect."
Sources: PBS, New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America, by Yossef Bodansky.