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From saudi arabia to pakistan, to afghanistan. those who have prayed with him, lived with him, and fought for him, share the story of his gradual but deadly transformation from a quiet religious boy to the angry voice of holy war. osama bin laden grew up in the boomtown of jeddah, saudi arabia, a town his father helped build. saudi arabia in the 1960s was of course a fantastically wealthy kingdom. ....
reporter: prince turki al faisal was the head of saudi arabia s intelligence service. he told me that in 1990 bin laden offered up his army to drive out the communists from neighboring yemen, but the saudis didn t take him seriously. later that year, when saddam hussein invaded kuwait, bin laden once again offered his troops to the saudis. he asked other officials in the kingdom for the opportunity, again, to bring his mujahadin, as he called them, to drive out saddam hussein from kuwait. and again he was told that that was not the right thing to do. reporter: instead, the saudis turned to the west for help. the u.s. led a multi-national coalition with hundreds of thousands of american troops in the land of the two holiest places, mecca and medina. ....
Do. he was a good soldier. he would follow orders. usually because he was taller than most of us and older, he would play in the front because this way he could use his head to score. reporter: batarfi says the teenage osama would usually take the high road. he remembers the time his friend was being bullied. so i went running to the guy and pushed him away from osama. and solve problem this way. but then osama came to me and said, you know if you waited a few minutes, i would have solved the problem peacefully. so this was the kind of guy who would always think of solving problems peacefully. reporter: while batarfi took the lead on the playing field, when it came to religion, there was no question, osama was in charge. that s the mosque we used to pray. yes. reporter: five times every day, devout muslims turn towards the holy city of mecca to pray. osama was always among them. for him, it was a must. reporter: it is something of a mystery why this son of a ....
reporter: osama bin laden was the world s most wanted terrorist. he haunts americans and millions of others around the world. i m christiane amanpour in peshawar, pakistan, the birthplace of bin laden s terrorist organization, al qaeda. not far from here, just across the border in afghanistan, he disappeared shortly after 9/11. to know more about osama bin laden, to bring you his whole story, we visited his home, his headquarters, his hideouts. we journeyed in his footsteps, from saudi arabia to pakistan, to afghanistan. those who have prayed with him, ....
Among those in the militant community, like egyptian osama rushdi, bin laden s reputation took a hit. translator: lots of people criticize osama bin laden because he led the arab fighters into the battle for jalalabad in a very disorganized way. more than 300 of them were killed. reporter: shortly after the battle, bin laden returned home to saudi arabia. my name is turki al faisal. i first met osama bin laden in pakistan in 1985. reporter: prince turki al faisal was the head of saudi arabia s intelligence service. he told me that in 1990 bin laden offered up his army to drive out the communists from neighboring yemen, but the saudis didn t take him seriously. later that year, when saddam hussein invaded kuwait, bin laden once again offered his troops to the saudis. ....