“As the Soviets leave Afghanistan, a dispute breaks out among the ‘Afghan Arabs’ over the best use of the fortune that continues to pour in. [Palestinian cleric Abdullah] Azzam wants to use the money to set up an Islamic regime in Kabul. Osama bin Laden wants to use it for a worldwide jihad against the West. Mysteriously, Azzam and his two sons are murdered in a car bombing [on November 24, 1989]. Though bin Laden professes grief, intelligence analysts believe he was responsible. Within months, with the support of his Egyptian allies Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mohammed Atef, and Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, bin Laden takes over Azzam’s Services Office network, using it as a grid for his new terror network, al Qaeda.”
– Peter Lance, Triple Cross, (Timeline) Page 3