Date Event Notes

1924 Abolition of caliphate in Turkey (AST

57)
1928 Hassan al-Banna starts Muslim
Brotherhood (AST 57)
1941 Jamaat I-Islami organized in India by
Maududi
1948 MB begins attacking British and
Jewish businesses to accelerate
Britiains withdrawal from Egypt and
protest Jewish settlement in Paliestine;
King Farouk orders MB dismantled
1948 MB assassinates Farouk' s prime
minister Nuqrashi Pasha
1949 Egypt arranges murder of Hassan al-
Banna, founder of MB
1952 Gamal Abdel Nasser deposes King Seclarist regime that relied on
Farouk in military coup Islamic groups and symbols; MB
established tactical alliance but had
the two had irreconcilable visions of
Egypt's future (AST 61)
1954 MB attempt on Nasser's life; hundreds Qutb "fused together the core
of MB jaikd^Jojlursd^executed, elements of modern Islamism."
including'Sayyid QutbJ ^^~ (AST 62)
1957 UBLborn^
1967 UBL's father killed in plane crash Business passes to eldest brother,
Salem

1970 Sadat succedes nasser Dismantled Nasser's domestic

/ r-f- 'Kc '/ n!; i ' r '' »;•••"' ' 4 r ••',:;
rprpgram^and initiated ecnomic
liberalization, which was opposed in
• -',;<,:• ,.:.,« . ^
universities where activists were still
*•.'
committed to Nasser's pan- Arab
socialism. To counter the
opposition, Sadat lifted legal
' . - ' - ' A - -, ,-'. „'
,restrictions^an4%e,ased polic pressure

- "' --, • -• ; , . ,/V" r;-.p" on Islamic student unions, which he

believed would drive the Naaserists
out of the universities thro.ugh
propaganda and physical violence.
f , •- . - _-
This strategenVlike Farouk' s use of
- .1 - • • ,r .-»•
the MB, succeeded in the short run.
Over the longer term, Sadat's tactics
^nurtured terrorist: groups for whom
kicking the Iftists off campus was
Date Event Notes
just the beginning [similarities to
Saudi Arabia]
- Sadat rehabilitated Rahman, when he
was trying to use Islamic opposition
in the battle against the left
1979 Soviets invade Afghanistan UBL visited Afghanistan and met
Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, leading
*MJ^ Islamic ideologist of the campain
against the Soviets (AST 99)
11/4/79 Iran takes hostages at U.S. embassy in
Tehran
4/18/83 Bombing of U.S. embassy in Beirut Hizbollah, receiving help from Iran
and Syria. No military response
10/23/83 Hizbollah uses car bomb to attack
Marine barracks in Beirut. 241
marines killed
12/12/83 U.S. Embassy in Kuwait bombed Frontline timeline: 'The suspects
were thought to be members of Al
Dawa, or "The Call," an Iranian-
backed group and one of the
principal Shiite groups operating
against Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
The U.S. military took no action in
retaliation. In Kuwait, 17 people
were arrested and convicted for
participating in the attacks. One of
those convicted was Mustafa
Youssef Badreddin, a cousin and
brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's
senior officers, Imad Mnghniyah.
After a six-week trial in Kuwait,
Badreddin was sentenced to death
for his role in the bombings."

2/84 U.S. forces begin to leave Lebanon

3/16/84 CIA station chief William Buckley Frontline Timeline: U.S. officials
kidnapped in Beirut believed that the Iranian-backed
Hezbollah was behind most of the
kidnappings and the Reagan
administration devised a covert plan.
Iran was desperately running out of
military supplies in its war with Iraq,
but Congress had banned the sale of
American arms to countries like Iran
that sponsored terrorism. Reagan
Date Event
1984 Azzam and UBL join forces,
established Maktab al-Khidmat
(Services Bureau)
9/20/84 Bombing of U.S. Embassy annex
northeast of Beirut
Notes
was advised that a bargain could be
struck — secret arms sales to Iran,
hostages back to the U.S. The plan,
when it was revealed to the public,
was decried as a failure and
anathema to the U.S. policy of
refusing to negotiate with terrorists.
In August 1985, the first
consignment of arms to Iran was
sent... [Three hostages released.]
Since the funds from the arms sales
to Iran were secretly, and illegally,
funneled to the U.S.-backed Contras
fighting to overthrow the Sandinista
regime in Nicaragua, the infamous
episode became known as the "Iran-
Contra affair."
Services Bureau set up a recruiting
network for fighters, brought them to
Peshawar, put them up in the
organization's guesthouses and
dispatched them to training camps.
Azzam ran Services Bureau; UBL
funded it
One of first offices was Atlantic
Avenue; Azzam sent Mustapha
Shalabi to run it
According to HWI, UBL virtually
deputized as recruiter-in-chief- for
Afghan fight by Prince Turki al-
Faisal, intel chief (HWI 55)
Frontline timeline: "According to the
U.S. State Department's 1999 report
on terrorist organizations, elements
of Hezbollah are "known or
suspected to have been involved" in
the bombing.The U.S. mounted no
military response to the embassy
annex bombing, but it did begin to
explore covert operations in
Lebanon."
Date Event Notes
12/3/84 Hijacking of Kuwait Airways Flight Frontline timeline: "The hijackers
221 demanded the release of the Kuwait
17. When the demand wasn't met,
the hijackers killed two American
officials from the U.S. Agency for
International Development. On the
sixth day of the drama, Iranian
security forces stormed the plane and
released the remaining hostages.
Iran arrested the hijackers, saying
they would be brought to trail. But
the trial never took place, and the
hijackers were allowed to leave the
country. There was no U.S. military
response. . . . Later press reports
linked Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyah
to the hijackings"

6/14/85 Hijacking of TWA Flight 847 Frontline timeline: "In what was
widely perceived as an implicit,
never explicit, quid pro quo, the
hostages started being released by
the hijackers, followed some days
after by Israel starting to free some
of its hundreds of Shiite prisoners.
At the time, U.S. officials denied
there was a deal and said Israel had
already committed to releasing the
prisoners. Imad Mughniyah, a senior
officer with Hezbollah, was secretly
indicted for the TWA hijacking in
1987, along with three others."

10/85 Hijacking of Achille Lauro Frontline timeline: After the

hijackers escaped the Achille Lauro
and left Egypt by air, U.S. Navy
fighters intercepted their plane and
forced it down in Italy, The four
hijackers were apprehended, and in
1986, they were found guilty in an
Italian court. Two of the hijackers
escaped from prison. One, Magid al-
Molgi, who confessed to killing Mr.
Klinghoffer, was caught and
returned to prison. The man
Date Event Notes
identified as the mastermind of the
hijacking, Abu Abbas, was released
by Italy despite Washington's pleas
that he be held for trial.
12/7/85 Airports in Rome and Vienna Frontline timeline: US. officials said
bombed, they were able to link Libya to the
bombing attacks
1985 Ali Mohamed leaves Egypt
4/5/86 Bombing of La Belle Disco in Berlin Frontline Timeline: After U.S.
intelligence intercepted Libyan
government communications
implicating Libya in the La Belle
disco attack, President Reagan
ordered retaliatory air strikes on
Tripoli and Benghazi

1986 Ali Mohamed enlists in US mlitary While delivering the occasional

lecture on Middle East politics and
culture, alsom smuggled out
classified documents, including
training manuals that later turned up
hi Nosair's apartment.
12/21/88 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 Frontline Timeline: According to the
Lockerbie State Department's "Patterns of
Global Terrorism, 1991," released in
April 1992, the bombing of Pan Am
103 "was an action authorized by the
Libyan Government." Though there
were reports that Syria and Iran also
played significant roles in the attack,
U.S. officials were never able to tie
the two countries to the bombing.
1988 Salem bin Laden killed in plane crash
1989 Last of Soviet troops leave
Afghanistan
1989 UBL begins organizing group that Al-Zawahiri, #2 man and chief
would become AQ ideologist; Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri,
former Egyptian police fficer,
became military chief; Mohammad
Atef/Abu Hafs al-Masry, deputy
chief of operations; Mamduh
Salim/Abu Hajer al Iraqi, everything
fro finances to weapons
procurement;
 Date Event Notes
Abu anas, computer specialist; Abu
Musab Reuter, media Specalisit;
- Abu Musaz al-Masry, interpretation
of dreams. (AST 104-05)
1989 UBL returns to Saudi Arabia while
AW remained in its camps in
Afghanistan and its guesthouses in
Pakistan (AST 105)

11/89 Azzam and two sons killed by car Azzam through next step would be
bomb in Peshawar to fight Israel; UBL disagreed,
preferring, like the Egyptian jihadist,
to focus on jahili Muslim regimes.
(AST 103)
1989 Azzam visits convention sponsored by Wadih El Hage met Mahmud
Muslim Arab Youth Association and Abouhalima at convention
I AP in Oklahoma
1989 Coup in Sudan by Hassan al-Turabi Al-Turabi had been leader of MB in
and military officer brings military- Sudan in 1960's; after the coup
Islamist regime to power Sudan flung its doors open to
extremist organizations from all over
(AST 110)
1989 Ali Mohamed leaves U.S. military
(AST 124)
1990 Beginning of AQ migration to Sudan. Delegation of 4 AQ leaders,
including Abu Hajer traveled to
Sudan to meet with NIF offiicals;
returned to Afghanistan and vouched
for Khartoum gov't; UBL stays in
Saudi Arabia until 1991
Meeting in Sudan between UBL and
Imad Mughniya, Hezbollah's chief
; terrorist and the architect of the major
strikes against American in the
1980's. (AST 127)
t }1990 Mahgoub, speaker of Egypt's
parliament, assassinated; AGAI/Blind
Sheikh responsible

Beginning of crackdown on Islamists

7/90 Blind Sheikh moves from Egypt to
Sudan and then to new York.
8/7/90 1st US troops arrive in Saudi Aranbia
"An oft-reported story tells of bin
Laden offering to put his Arab
Afghans at the Saudi government to
Date Event
- represented the works kind of
1991 Beginning of breakup of Yugoslavia
1/91 Kherchtou goes to training camp
Pakistan (AST 125)
3/91 Mustapha Shalabi dead in apartment
in New York; Wadih El Hage
summoned to NY to take over the
Maktab al-Khidmat/Serviees Bureau
5/91 "letter of Demands" petition signed by "The al-Saud worked to rebottle the
Islamic scholars presented to King
Fahd (AST 107)
mid- UBL leaves Saudi Arabia; goes first to Sets up al-Hijra construction
1991 Afghanistan then to Sudan.
Ali Mohamed helps transport UBL
from Afghanistan to Sudan and taught 111)
intelligence method.
Late Algerians vote overwhelming for
1991 Islamic Slvation Front (FIS); army
sets results aside; rise of GIA
1992 Beginning of AQ's presence on the
ground in Nairobi (AST 26)
Notes
defend the country against Saddam
Hussein, who to jihadists,
Muslim - a blaspheming arch-
nationalist. The government
declined, instead putting itself in the
hands of the U.S. military." (AST
106)
Slaughter of tens of thousands of
Bosnian Muslims
Shalabi also prefered "Palestine
Next" strategy; probably killed like
Azzam; Rahman also suspected of
having a hand in his death (104)
genie of antiregime Islamism by
using increasingly unhappy senior
ulema to pressure the younger ones
and having the security services
intimidate them." (AST 108)
company, which undertook projects
for the gov't of Sudan, invested
heavily in al-Shamal bank, etc. (AST
Close realtinship with NIF; gov't
gave AQ couple of hundred valid
Sudanese passports; members of the
group were effectively detailed to
the Sudanese authorities to help
coordinate the immigration of
Islamist radicals, serving as a vetting
office to try to prevent unwanted
foreign agents from gaining entry
under cover." (AST 11 2)
Rise of GIA
"off-shore subsidiary, with proven,
secure channels for moving money
and identification documents from
phony charitable organizations that
Date Event
8/92 Blind Sheikh calls 810604 in Pakistan
9/1/92 Ramzi Yousef and Ahmad Ajaj arrive
in NY from Pakistan; Ajaj is detained
at the border. Yousef is carrying an
Iraqi passport that arouses suspicion;
asks for asylum. Yousef is
photographed, fingerprinted, given a
date to appear in court and disappears.
12/92 Yemeni extremists bomb hotl in Aden
where American troops supporting the
UN mission in Somalia were billeted
12/92 US forces arrive in Somalia
1993 AQ moves weapons stocks form
Afghanistan to East Africa
UBL buys used aircraft through Essam Plane was to be used to ferry
al-Ridi, who was living in Texas.
1/25/93 Mir Amal Kansi shooting at CIA HQ
2/26/93 WTC I bomb
3/4/93 FBI interviews Abdul Rahman Yasin
and releases him; Yasin flies to
Jordan, then Iraq
4/93 Kuwaiti security services uncover
Iraqi plot to kill former President Bush
with car bomb during his visit to
Kuwait
Notes
gave its people an ostensible reason
for being in the city." (AST 26-27)
Ramzi Yousef later calls this same
number
Yousef moves into apartment with
Mohammed Salameh, member of the
Farouq Mosque jihad group.
Contacted Mahmud Abouhalima
(Mahmud the Red), man who drove
the getaway car that Nosair missed;
Eventually joined byNidal Ayyad,,
Eyad Ismoil, Abdul Rahman Yasin
Yousef met Ajaj at Khalen
When Ajaj entered US he was found
carrying a bomb manual that,
government translators said, had
'The Basic Rule" written on the
cover and had been complied in
1982 in Amman. Manual sholud
have been translated as "The Base" -
al-Qaeda and had actually been
publishedin 1989 in Afghanistan.
(AST 235), citing NYT 1/14/01,
"One Man and a Global Web of
Violence"
First violent act against Americans
that has been linked to UBL; no hard
evidence (AST 234)
Stingers and other missiles
Date Event
5/93 Blind Sheikh asked whether the UN
Building and FBI HQ in NY would be
illicit targets (AST)
6/26/03 US launches 23 Tomahawk cruise
7 missiles at Baghdad, destroying Iraqi
intelligence headquarters (AST 222)
1993 Ali Mohammed summoned back from
Africa to be interviewed by FBI in
connection with case against Blind
Shekh
92-93 FBI's relationship with Terrstop
informant Emad Sem suspended
6/93 Preparations for Day of Terror began
in Queens safe house (AST 19)
6/23/93 FBI agents raid Queens safe house
9/93 Oslo peace accords
11/93 Killing of US troops in Somalia
Late UBL sends Ali Mohammed to Nairobi
1993
1994 First Chechen war starts (1994-1996)
1994 Attempt on UBL's life (more?) Ali
Mohammed summoned to train UBL's
bodyguards. (AST 124)
Notes
First time Clinton Administration
used military force and the 1st such
U.S. retaliation against terrorists
since Reagan attacked Tripli in 1986
after the La Belle Discotheque
bombing in Berline
Convinces FBI he can be useful as
informant (AST 236)
Bureau lost interest? (AST 18)
Indictment for seditious conspiracy;
Nosair also indicted on federal
changes for the Kahane killing
Mohammed cased American
embassy as well as USAID, French
embassy, French Cultural Center,
and British and Israeli targets.
Brought back photographs, diagrams
and report. (AST 130)
AQ created a pipeline for fighters
and material that ran through Ankara
into Azerbaijan. NGO was founded
in Baku to give cover to AQ
operations; fighters smuggled into
Russian Dagestan then on to
Chechnya.(AST113)

1994 Founding of the Taliban

4/94 Creation of Committee for Defense of
Legitimate Rights in London - leading
source of criticism of Saudi Regime
(AST 131)
1994 Saudi Arabi revokes UBL's
Date Event
citizenship
3/94 U.S. withdraws from Somalia
8/94 2d Kenyan cell created in Mombasa
1994 AH Mohamed traveled to Djibouti to
conduct surveillance on US and
French embassies and French military
installations;
1994 Group of salafis in Jordan launches
series of bombings and plans to murer
leading government officials and
diplomats negotiating with Israel
(AST 190)
1/95 Woolsey fired as DCI after
mishandling of Ames case
6/13/95 AUSA Pat Fitzgerald examines
Khaled Ibrahim about UBL - one of
the earliest in public by any official of
the name bin Laden. (AST 234-35)
12/95 Philippine Air Line flight from Manila
to Tokyo explodes, killing Japanese
passenger (AST 23)
1/7/95 Philippines police discover Bojinka
plot through apartment fire at Josefa
House (AST 20)
10
Notes
Mohammed Odeh and Mohammad
Atef set up business in Mombasa
(AST 130)
Later that year Mohamed and
Kherchtou ordered to Senegal to
observe facilities there. Trip
scratched when Mohamed learned
Fbi wanted to interview him for
Blind Sheik's trial. Returned to US,
talked to FBI — lies and partial
truths. Told Atef about then FBI
interview; Atef said not to return to
Nairobi to avoid leading FBI to AQ
(AST 131)
Out of the next 30 months, CIA
without Senate-confirmed director
for a full year. No confirmed DCI
for 30 months.
Deutch residend 12/96; Lake
nominated but withdrew 3/97
Yousef had assembeld bomb in the
bthroom during ht efirst leg of the
trip, taped it under a seat and
disembarked during stopover in
Cebu. (AST 23)
Found laptop belonging to Ramzi
Yousef; fusing system found in
apartment matched WTC I fuse;
business card belonging to
Mohammed Jamal Khalif, UBL bro-
in law, believed to be cofounder of
Abu Sayyaf; Khalifa paid for the
Date Event Notes
apartment
2/95 One of Yousef s operatives stops Who provided tip? Did he become
before going through security in an informant?
Bangkok, pours explosive down the
drain and provides tip that led to
Yousef (AST 25)
• 2/7/95 Ramzi Yousef captured
4/19/95 OKC bombing
6/95 AGAI attempted assassination of
Mubarak in Ethiopia
10/95 EIJ truck bomb into gate of Egyptian "Zawahiri apperas to have played a
embassy in Islamabad key role" (AST 132)
3/20/95 Aum Shinrikyo releases sarin in the
Tokyo subway
6/21/95 Clinton signs PDD-39 "First major step toward centralizing
control over federal counterterrorism
policy in the White House." Rise of
Dick Clarke — made first national
coordinator for terrorism in PDD 62
(AST 230-32)
11/95 OPM/SANG bomb in Saudi Arabia Five months later Prince Nayif
announced four suspects were
charged; suspects ched UBL as
influence. US never got a chance to
question suspects. (AST 242)
1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act of 1996 bans fundraising
for groups that support terrorist
organizations and creates Alien
Terrorist Removal Court
1996 Jordanian group Obeisance to the
Leader targets royal family of Jordan
(AST 190)
1996 Virtual UBL station created at CIA
(AST 243)
2/96 U.S withdraws all official personnel Ambassador Tim Carney moved to
from Khartoum (AST 245) Nairobi and monitored Sudan
3/3/96 Carney and another State Department Erwa said Sudan was ready to expel
official, with reps of 1C met with bin Laden and send him to Saudi
Elfatih Erwa, senior Sudanese official. Arabia but Saudi' s wouldn't take
him back.

Press reports that Sudan prepared to

hand UBL to US; Clarke and CSG
decided they couldn't take him

11
Date Event
. and DOJ had no grounds to hold
5/18/96 UBL evicted from Sudan; goes to
Afghanistan (AST 247)
6/25/96 Khobar Towers bombing
1996 Al-Fadl approaches a number of
countries with information about UBL
and Sudan, eventually walks into
American embassy somewhere and
announces he has information about
impending terrorist attacks
,1997^ Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri drowns in a
ferry accident (AST 138)
Notes
because he had not yet been indicted
him. (AST 246-47)
UBL publishes first fatwa
Iran considered responsible; Saudis
unwilling to allow FBI access to
suspects (AST 225)
Al Fadl left Sudan after UBL
discovered he took illicit
commissions
What information did Al Fadl
provide? What did US do with Al
Fadl's information?

1997
«„<*
FBI searches Wadi El Hage's office in Need to follow up
Nairobi (AST 236)
3/97 First meeting between UBL and
Mullah Omar (AST 138)
7/97 Tenet confirmed as DCI
11/97 Attack on Europian tourists and
Egyptians by AGAI at Luxor
1998 Rebellion in Uzbekistan under Juma
Namangani, hed of Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan (AST 207)
1998 Jordanian group Reform and
Challenge Group goes on spree of
bombing and arson attacks against
luxury hotel, American school, and
police installations (AST 190)
2/98 Al-Owhali sent to receive additional
(approx) training; Khalfan Khan Mohammed
asked if he wanted to do a jihad job
(AST 150)
2/23/98 Second fatwa (?) - Declaration of AST: Most of the surveillance
Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders - 6 photos and diagrams had been stored
months before Embassy Bombings on computer disks for several years;
Nairobi cell operative since 1992
(26). Plans known as Operation
Kaaba (structure at the cetner of the
Grand Mosque in Mecca) and
Operation al-Aqsa (the mosue in

12
Date Event
3/98 Azzam approached Mohammed al-
Owhali in Afghan camps and asked if
he was still interested in a mission.
Azam and al-Owhali sent to Kabul for
training, then Yemen to lie low.
6/98 Sealed indictment of UBL (AST 239)
6/98- Azzam and Al-Owhali recalled t
7/98 Afghanistan and informed about the
details of the operation (AST 29)
8/7/98 Embassy bombings - In Nairobi, Al-
Owhali leaves; Azzam detonates the
bomb.
2/16/99 IMU declares war in Uzbekistan by
detonating 6 car bombs in Tashkent
13
Notes
Jerusalem).
"Very few people knew about this
indictment.... Thu, as a practical
matter, the indicuemtn — and the
considerable brain work that had
gone into producing it - could haven
o discernible effect on U.S. national
security planning." Worried about
State Department and Sandy Berger
finding out [why?] (AST 239)
Two made videotapes, farewell
statements and flew from Pakistan to
Kenya at the beginning of August
(AST 29)
8 anniversary of the arrival of US
troops in Saudi Arabia
Hub was in Afghanistan, where
UBL's "peripatentic entourage and
phalanx of technicians worked out
the plans and chose the teams. The
cells in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan,
and London would handle
communications and publicity.
Nairobi was the key point of
production and delivery; locations in
Germany, Yemen and elsewhere
would play supporting roles. And,
like a team from McKinsey or
boston Consulting, a traveling group
of experts would descent upon
Bairobi and Dar to oversee the
management of the critical parts of
the process." (AST 27)
Ggovernment cracks down;
government "unable or unwilling to
distinguish between ordinary Sunni
Muslims and the Wahhabis and
Deobandis who were in league with
the militants. Support for the rebels
Date Event Notes
grew accordingly." (AST 207)
Summer Jordanians break up Millennium plot Jordanians hear Abu Zubayda give
1999 —Radisson Hotel in Amman; attack at his contact in Amman the order to
Mount Nebo. Found 71 containers of carry out the attack
sulfuric acid and nitric acid at safe
house
Winter Namangani of the IMU strikes deal for UBL supplies tactical helicopters
1999 arms and bases with UBL and Taliban and $20 million in cash. Mullah
Omar gave Namangani persmission
to establish bases in Afgh and carry
out operations from there into
Uzbekistan. In return the IMU
would fight with the Taliban against
the Northern Alliance. (AST 207)

Namangani later killedin Mazar -e-

Sharif
1/00 Failed attempt to sink the USS The Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
Sullivans (AST 32) Thought to be behind plot ((Fox
News 11/23/02)
10/00 USS Cole attacked Al-Nashiri believed to be
mastermind (Fox News 1 1/23/02)
12/00 Hambali's Jemaah Islamian launches^ Hambali's Singapore cells
series of bombings in JakarnrSTKuala coordinated directly with AQ leaders
Lumpur ~ / in Afghanistan. CIA operatives
found plans for one attack along
jpt*^
with a surveillance video in the ruins
of Atef s house.
12/00 Malaysia Meeting - Hazmi, Mihdhar,
Khallad, Hambali at Sufaat's
apartment
2/6/01 Al Fadl testifies at embassy bombings
trial
9/11/01 WTC and Pentagon attacks
10/7/01 Video broadcast showing UBL and
Zawahiri(AST159)
12/13/01 Jaish e-Mohammed attacks Indian
parliament in New Delhi
2/02 Bomb detonated in car belonging to
the wife of Jordan's chief
antiterrorism officer, who ran the
millennium plot investigation. (AST
190)
6/14/02 Car bomb at American consulate in
Karachi (AST 203)

14
Date Event Notes
10/02 Bali resort bombing

15