Article

2004-12-26 Europe

French magistrate widens Bin Laden finance probe

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Posted by Fred 2004-12-26 00:00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 There are many things the French do that drive us to cold anger or gibbering madness (or both!) but this is one thing they do well when one of their investigating magistrates puts his mind to it.

Posted by Gleaper Thomomble7223 2004-12-26 2:24:42 AM|| [http://Trailing Wife, offsite] 2004-12-26 2:24:42 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 my cynical mind also notes this would help deflect oil-for-Saddam-bribes criticism

Posted by Frank G 2004-12-26 9:19:51 AM|| 2004-12-26 9:19:51 AM|| Front Page Top

#3
Yeslam Bin Ladin is the former husband of Carmen Bin Ladin, the author of Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia. I read the book last week. She indicates that their marriage broke up largely because he became kind of mentally ill. He became distracted, paranoid. Something went wrong with him mentally, but it wasn't clear (at least to this reader) exactly what went wrong.

In light of this posting, I wonder if he was being extorted to divert family money to Osama Bin Laden.

Although Yeslam was the tenth son, he was the best educated and the most capable for the management of the family business. His role in the family business is therefore somewhat disproportionately large in relation to his family ranking.

Yeslam seems to be a relatively decent man, as his wife desribes him. He studied in the USA, and he admired this country. When he returned to Saudi Arabia, he hoped and expected that his own country would reform in the coming years. Developments turned in the wrong decision, however, beginning in 1979, when the Shah of Iran was overthrown and the mosque in Mecca was briefly captured by religious radicals. The Saudi royal family then allowed its conservative religious leaders much more of a free hand.

Anyway, that's how Carmen Bin Laden recounts the events.
.

Posted by Mike Sylwester 2004-12-26 2:00:56 PM|| 2004-12-26 2:00:56 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 so you read an ex-wife's tell all and divined an extortion attempt. Nice sleuthing MS

Posted by Frank G 2004-12-26 2:11:52 PM|| 2004-12-26 2:11:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Where in the World is Carmen bin Laden???

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2004-12-26 2:34:29 PM|| 2004-12-26 2:34:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Merry Christmas Mike! Please next year explode the myth of the Jesus Jew thing.

Posted by Shipman 2004-12-26 5:30:44 PM|| 2004-12-26 5:30:44 PM|| Front Page Top

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