A look inside bin Laden's web of Islamic 'warriors'

By all accounts, he was an indulged child and had the best education available in Saudi Arabia. He graduated from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah in 1979 with a degree in civil engineering. After his father's death in 1968, he inherited millions.

That money, his education, and family business acumen helped in Afghanistan.

When he first arrived, he traveled the region, raising money and recruits for the jihad against the Soviets. Returning to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s, he built roads, tunnels, and bunkers. He lived simply - as he still does - in caves, without electricity or running water.

"He was not out there in combat, but his guidance and [financial] support and his most modest lifestyle won a great deal of support from his followers," Dr. Post says. "Then they vanquished the enemy - the Soviets."

Triumphant in their success, bin Laden and his brothers-in-arms returned to their home countries. This, says Post, was another turning point in his life.

Although the US had helped him and his fellow warriors expel the Soviets from Afghanistan, bin Laden was furious with the US when he returned home. King Fahd had invited American troops to deploy in Saudi Arabia - birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and home to the two holiest Muslim shrines - to protect the oil-rich kingdom from an Iraqi invasion. "It's very disruptive to lose your enemy," says Post. "The way [bin Laden] dealt with it - he replaced Soviets with the American enemy."

Over the next few years, bin Laden became increasingly angry with US meddling in the Mideast, especially with its support of Israel against the Palestinians. He also chafed at the US role in conducting airstrikes and enforcing an embargo that reportedly resulted in the deaths of many Iraqi children.

In the early 1990s, he directed most of his efforts toward US troops in Saudi Arabia, calling for guerrilla attacks to drive them out.

By 1998, he had escalated the struggle, urging indiscriminate attacks on American civilians anywhere in the world.

To carry out his new holy war, intelligence officials say, he began to recall those Arab men who had fought with him in Afghanistan - men who had returned home to some 12 countries in the region.

They began to reorganize, forming a group called Al-Qaeda, which in Arabic means The Base. According to an indictment filed in New York, Al-Qaeda is an international terror organization headed by bin Laden that provides training camps, financing, planning, recruitment, and other support services for fighters seeking to strike at the United States.

The loosely knit organization, intelligence officials say, is set up like a foundation. "In Western terms, this would be an organization where people would go to conduct research," says Peter Crooks, a retired FBI official who specialized in counterterrorism. "The research in this instance would be laying the groundwork for terrorist attacks."

Bin Laden could be considered the director, or inspirational leader, of the network. Under him is a board of directors, made up of trusted soldiers who fought with him in Afghanistan. These men, possibly numbering in the hundreds, would be important for recruitment and to supervise missions.

"The parallel to make is to the Mafia," Mr. Crooks says. "These individuals would be considered 'made' members of the organization - a totally trusted inner circle, probably with a strong emphasis on blood ties."

Below this level are the soldiers, the people who carry out assignments but who are not decisionmakers. At the bottom of the organization are what Crooks calls sympathizers or supporters - people throughout the world willing to help these men. The aid could be financial, such as contributions to a charity that funnels funds to Al-Qaeda. Or it could be providing a room for a relative or a recommendation for a job.

Soldiers involved in an active mission are typically organized into cells of three people. Each cell is responsible for one aspect of a job - surveillance of an intended target, for instance. Another cell would be responsible for making a bomb, another for placing it, and yet another would handle the clean-up.

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