Osama bin Laden begins to invest in Sudan, buying numerous properties and businesses. The Saudi Binladin Group receives a contract to build an airport in Port Sudan. In October 1990, Osama bin Laden reportedly first visited Khartoum, a year after the coup d’etat by the National Islamic Front (NIF).
Soon after Desert Storm, bin Laden leaves Saudi Arabia for Sudan, and according to George Tenet, “the Saudis were thrilled …” (At the Center of the Storm, p. 101) Hassan al-Turabi, the spiritual leader of the NIF, hosts the first Popular Arab Islamic Conference in Sudan in April 1991. The conference provides a forum for disparate forces in the Middle East who oppose American presence in the region to come together. Bin Laden attends, as do leaders from Hizballah, and representatives from various Iraqi and Iranian groups.