When the name of Osama bin Laden burst upon the international scene in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the information available on him said that he was the son of a Yemeni-born Saudi millionaire, Mohammad bin Laden. Saudi Arabia's oil-rich millionaires and their signature opulent lifestyles were immediately conjured up, with a pop psychology view of Laden as a millionaire-turned-ascetic militia becoming the norm in popular opinion.
Coll's book in that sense breaks this stereotypical view of Laden. The reality of Laden's life, as one of the many children sired by his father, and then left in the care of his mother, is brought to life through detailed research. Facts relating to Laden's life, that his mother married a second time and had a second family, that Laden was the eldest child in a family which did not share in his father's opulent lifestyle and that Laden always remained a bit of an outsider in both his worlds is brought to life. He was just one of the many sons of his father, certainly not the favourite nor the heir.
Laden has been portrayed by Coll as a shy, hesitant man, in need of a father figure. At first, his own father's exploits in rising from the poverty of his Yemeni roots to being the biggest builder in Saudi Arabia seem to be a beacon for young Osama. The fact that his father was the contractor on extensive renovations done to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina by the Al Saud royal family had a deep impact on Laden and his religious proclivities. Coll does his best to disrupt the continuum drawn by other Osama watchers that it was his disgust of the opulent lifestyle of the Saudi royal family that led him to his austere cave dwelling in Afghanistan. Bin Laden was in touch with his extended brood of siblings, though not as much as his eldest brother Salem, and has consistently tried to protect his family's business interests by being silent on the activities of the regime in Saudi Arabia.
His initial forays into Jehadi terrorism as a mujahideen in Afghanistan were in fact actively aided and abetted by both his government and his family. Despite the fact that he was under the active influence of the Islamic Brotherhood organisations of Egypt and his disdain for the royal family, he remains quiet on the subject of his family.
Coll's book in fact dwells a lot more on Osama's eldest brother Salem and his other siblings, who are scattered across the globe, and some share their more famous brother's religious convictions while most do not. The anecdotal details are a tribute to Coll's research, including a revealing look into how the Laden family and the Saudi government mobilised funds for the Mujahideen's in Afghanistan. It is a complex family in a complex country, and thankfully Coll does not fall into the trap of simplifying it and allows the richness of detail and complexity to seep into the book.
This is clearly not Dr Phil's version of why Osama bombed America or why the US remains in "eye rack". At the heart of it, the book is a story of a family's rags to riches journey, of absentee fathers, intense sons and immense wealth which only obscures some conflicts but does not resolve them.
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THE BIN LADENS
THE STORY OF A FAMILY AND ITS FORTUNE
Steve Coll
Penguin Group, London
671 pages; Rs 695
