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| Posted: April 3, 2008 |
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In his book "The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century," Steve Coll chronicles the lives and fortunes of the family from which Osama bin Laden came. He answers your questions here. |
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| Gunther S. of Portola Valley, Calif., asks: |
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| How many of the bin Ladens' other 53 children of Mohammed have joined or support Osama? |
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| Steve Coll responds: |
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During the 1980s, Osama enjoyed support from his family -- his policies were endorsed by the Saudi government and for that matter by the United States, although the U.S. did not deal with him directly, so far as is known. However, after Osama broke with his own government in Saudi Arabia, during the mid-1990s, he was stripped of his family shareholdings. Some of the more religious members of his family may have sympathized with him, and as noted above, his mother and stepbrother, at least, remained in contact with him until 2001, but in general, I think the family did break with him -- he was putting their business and their wealth at risk, and many of them resented what they saw as his misguided arrogance in doing so. |
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