” ‘To counter these atheist Russians, the Saudis chose me as their representative in Afghanistan,’ Bin Laden said later [in an interview with Agence France-Presse on August 27, 1998]. ‘I settled in Pakistan in the Afghan border region. There I received volunteers who came from the Saudi Kingdom and from all over the Arab and Muslim countries. I set up my first camp where these volunteers were trained by Pakistani and American officers. The weapons were supplied by the Americans, the money by the Saudis. I discovered that it was not enough to fight in Afghanistan, but that we had to fight on all fronts, communist or Western oppression,’ he added.”
– Ahmed Rashid, Taliban, Page 132