There is an assassination attempt on Osama bin Laden, while he is living in Khartoum, Sudan. Bin Laden believes it is Egyptian intelligence; the CIA believes it is the Saudis. (Looming Tower, p. 192) Though U.S. intelligence is barely registering bin Laden’s importance, both Egypt and Saudi Arabia had taken notice of Bin Laden’s post Afghanistan life in Sudan, the scale of his enterprises, and the growing reach of al Qaeda.
By this time, bin Laden is also cooperating with Ayman Zawahiri and in contact with other Egyptian jihadis. At the end of December, a terrorist attack, claimed by Zawahiri’s group, attacked a tourist bus in old Cairo, injuring eight Austrians and eight Egyptians. A few days after the assassination attempt, terrorists in Egypt attack a bus carrying Romanian tourists and then a Nile cruise boat. There are a half dozen attacks on tourists in Egypt in February. Bin Laden had also been involved in a debate with the Egyptian jihadists in al Qaeda who wanted to attack the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden objected, not wanting to provoke a more forceful crackdown on dissidents in the country.
It is most likely that the Saudis conducted (or sponsored) the attempt on bin Laden’s life. It would be the beginning of the end for his sojourn in Sudan. In March or April, King Fahd revoked bin Laden’s citizenship as punishment for his “irresponsible behavior that contradicts the interests of Saudi Arabia and harms sisterly countries.” (Intelligence Matters, p. 30) Egypt had complained to the Saudis and the Sudanese government, and both Algeria and Yemen complained to the the Saudis to put a stop to bin Laden and his support for insurgencies in their countries.
Day: February 5, 2021