Channel 4 - Bin Laden The Road to 9.11 (2021) Part 1

– Also aired as “Osama Bin Laden The Inside Story ” –

It's a name that will be forever seared onto history. But just who was Osama Bin Laden, the figure behind the devastating 9/11 attacks, and how did the quiet son of a billionaire become a terrorist mastermind? 10 years since the death of Osama Bin Laden and 20 years on from 9/11, this series tells the story of how this man became the greatest enemy of the West. Originally commissioned to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Voltage TV's three-part “Bin Laden The Road To 9/11” is aiming for a life beyond the month of September, as it digs deep into the life of the founder of jihadist terror organisation Al-Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden was the world's most infamous terrorist. Everyone knows about his atrocities and the impact of his campaign on terror. But how much is known about the man himself and what set him on his path of destruction? Partially shot in Afghanistan only months before the Taliban's recent seizure of control of the country, the film paints a picture of a shy young boy from a wealthy family who lost his father relatively young and slowly became radicalised and entrenched in ideology. From a quiet and introspective son of a billionaire to global terrorist mastermind, “Bin Laden The Road To 9/11” charts the story of his transformation, narrated by those who witnessed every step of the journey he made. Featuring the testimony and accounts of those who know Bin Laden as a child, a student, a fundraiser-turned-fighter in Afghanistan, the leader of Al Qaeda and the driving force behind 9/11 - this series adapts an alternative lens through which to view his life that is unlike any the West has seen until now. The documentary's contributors include childhood friend Khaled Batarfi, who recalls a young lad with a penchant for American TV changed irreversibly by war, and Mujahideen commander Sayed Rahman Wahidyar, who talks of an incompetent fighter whom he had to scold at times, but who slowly learned battlefield skills. These fighting skills culminated in the Battle of Jaji – which was the start of the myth of Bin Laden as a war hero. “Bin Laden The Road To 9/11” also charts Bin Laden's return to Saudi Arabia, where he becomes an embarrassing dissident during the Gulf War, as well as his journey to Sudan, where he opens up Al-Qaeda training camps while simultaneously running a sunflower business. The film also boasts unique, never-before-broadcast audio recordings of Bin Laden, recovered from his compound.

Part 1

The early years of Bin Laden, from timid Saudi schoolboy to revered freedom fighter. The first episode begins with Osama Bin Laden's schooldays in Saudi Arabia. He grew up in a wealthy family, loved westerns and soccer, and avoided fights in the schoolyard. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, like many Arab men, he joined the resistance to liberate the country from the occupying forces. In Peshawar, Pakistan, just across the Afghan border, he sets up a “service bureau” and uses his connections to organize money for the fight. He keeps promising his mother not to go into battle himself, but then joins the mujahideen commander Sayed Wahidyar, who is only called “Fearless”. According to Wahidyar, bin Laden is initially a burden because he has no idea about fighting. The wealth he inherited and the family's connections to the construction industry come in handy when he begins to build much-needed infrastructure such as roads, warehouses and clinics on his own. In the Battle of Jaji, the Soviet troops were finally repulsed with the help of the experienced Afghan mujahideen - a decisive victory for bin Laden, which resulted in the superpower's final withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988. It is the beginning of a myth fueled in part by Bin Laden himself. His supposed military success gives him enormous prestige. In the same year, Bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda. The die is cast.

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