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But his resume doesn't end there. Bin Laden has become prominent in the embryonic Islamic movement aimed at toppling the pro-Western monarchy in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, security officials in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. suspect that he has become a central participant in a loose network that provides funds for Islamic terrorists. Rather than depending solely on states like Sudan, Iran or Libya, this group's jihad is being coordinated and underwritten by individuals as well. In addition to making his own financial contributions, bin Laden plays another role, several sources believe: he raises money from Islamic businessmen, mainly in the Gulf, runs it through companies in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East and eventually funnels it to holy warriors in various countries. "There was a time when people thought that any support for international terrorism must be state-centered," says a scholar in London. "The bin Laden phenomenon is an illustration of the privatization of the support of terrorism."
At his office near Khartoum, bin Laden acknowledges his political opposition to the House of Saud, but belittles the terrorism charges. During the long conversation--interrupted twice for prayers--he explained the accusations against him by saying, "The Egyptians would catch somebody who would say, 'I was trained in bin Laden's camp.' These camps were set up to help the Afghans, but suddenly the Egyptian media is blaming me for anything that happens. It's like blaming a university for students who graduate and go perform bad deeds."
So far no one has produced conclusive evidence of bin Laden's involvement with terrorism. Nevertheless, investigators are tracking him closely. Sources in the West and Middle East have told TIME the following:
--Last December, British police raided the London residence of an Algerian named Rachid Ramda and found communications from the Armed Islamic Group, an Algerian organization suspected in seven bombings in France that killed seven and wounded 180 last year. The police also discovered records of wire-fund transfers and traced them to bin Laden's headquarters in Khartoum.
--Also in December, Egyptian security officials uncovered a conspiracy by the extremist group Islamic Jihad to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak. Based on interrogations, which may have included torture, Egyptian authorities are now investigating an informant's tip that bin Laden helped fund the plot.
--Relying on confessions by suspected terrorists, Egyptian security officials also allege that bin Laden is the major financier of a camp in Afghanistan called Kunar that provides training for recruits of Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Group, both Egyptian terrorist organizations.
--Citing its own intelligence sources, the U.S. State Department claims that bin Laden helps fund three terrorist training camps in northern Sudan. Extremists from Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia receive instruction at the camps.
--In 1992 two hotel bombs in Aden killed two Austrian tourists and narrowly missed 100 U.S. servicemen en route to Somalia for Operation Restore Hope. The U.S. State Department says bin Laden was implicated by suspects as the bankroller behind both bombings.