8/14/1996

CIA Counterterrorist Center analyst Stanley “Bedington’s recollection [in a November 19, 2001 interview] that bin Laden’s activities were first reported in CIA cables around 1985 is supported by an unclassified profile of bin Laden released by the agency in [August 14] 1996. Drawing on agency reporting, the profile says, ‘By 1985, Bin Laden had drawn on his family’s wealth, plus donations received from sympathetic merchant families in the Gulf region, to organize the Islamic Salvation Front.’ ”

 – Steve Coll, Ghost Wars, Page 605