In the West, the name Bin Laden is synonymous with the horrific events of September 11, 2001. In Saudi Arabia, however, the family is known for one thing above all: as the family that built the Kingdom.
As the Times of London reports, there is no international comparison to the power once wielded by the Saudi Bin Laden group. Imagine all the UK’s biggest construction companies rolled into one, with royal and government backing.
After starting from scratch, the group of Mohammed bin Laden, who had succeeded in creating the legend of the man who could do anything, renovated the great mosques of Mecca and Medina – the most important monuments of Islam – and built palaces , skyscrapers and towers.
Over the decades, the power of the family passed from father to sons. Mohammed bin Laden, the builder who had so impressed King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, was married at least 20 times and fathered 54 children.
Of these, only Osama – the son of a rather low-ranking young wife – turned to extremism. His half-siblings, meanwhile, were more likely to be found sunbathing on yachts in St Tropez or dancing in London nightclubs.
In 1967, Mohammed was killed in a plane crash, and Salem, his eldest son, took over. Although he was only 21 years old, he managed to maintain close relations with the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
As Steve Coll, author of the book “The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century” reports, he claimed that he managed to become a member of the royal court and expand the family business.
When Salem was killed in 1988 – also in a plane crash – Bakr bin Laden took over, closely supported by his brother Shafiq.
While his half-siblings grew their empire, Osama devoted himself to jihad, fighting with the mujahideen in Afghanistan. At the time, they were supported by the Reagan administration in the US and the Saudi leadership.
As his views became more extreme, Osama came to hate the Saudi royal family, seeing them as morally degenerate and too close to the West. The same was true of his own relatives, with their love of fast cars and modern conveniences.
In 1988, Osama bin Laden founded al-Qaeda. By the early 1990s, he had been stripped of his Saudi citizenship and moved to Sudan and then Afghanistan, where he planned the 9/11 attacks.
After 9/11, the Bin Ladens maintained their lucrative contacts and connections with the Saudi leadership. Despite the tarnishing of the bin Laden name, the family has largely continued business as usual in Saudi Arabia.
Bin Salman vs. Bin Laden
However, an even greater challenge would soon come, in the form of a terrible tragedy and an ambitious young prince who wanted to bring the powerful businessmen under his wing.
In 2015, shortly before the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, a crane owned by Saudi Arabia’s Binladin Group collapsed into the city’s Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 people and injuring 400 others.
The group was banned from new contracts and revisions of existing ones. Some executives were banned from leaving the country.
That same year, according to a Reuters investigation, Mohammed bin Salman – then just 29 years old – approached the Saudi Binladin Group with a proposal: he wanted to become a partner in the company.
One of the sources who spoke to Reuters said the accident in Mecca gave the government an opportunity to move against the group.
Bakr bin Laden, head of the group, balked – claiming he needed to consult other shareholders before making a decision. His swing was not well received.
Within two years, Mohammed bin Salman was crown prince of Saudi Arabia and the bin Laden empire was in free fall.
When nearly 400 of the Kingdom’s most powerful people – including businessmen and royals – were arrested at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh on bin Salman’s orders in November 2017, three bin Laden brothers were among them, including Bakr.
Ultimately, according to Reuters, control of a third of the family group was given to the Saudi state. Bakr bin Laden, once one of the country’s most powerful men, was held until last May, when he was released.
After decades at the center of Saudi public life, a young prince has brought the bin Laden empire to its knees.
“They are still very respectful, but very limited,” said a source close to the family. “Bakr has been released and they have been left alone.”
Source: Capital
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