Osama bin Laden was interviewed in Afghanistan by Palestinian journalist Jamal Ismail on December 22, 1998. ” ‘I heard about the [August 7, 1998, African embassy] bombings the same way everyone else heard about them, from the television or radio. I did not order them but was very glad for what happened to the Americans there. [The bombings] were Islamic revenge on American spies in East Africa. Many oppressed Muslims are ready to die in the war against the Americans. Those who did it may be some of these oppressed Muslims.’ ”
– Newsweek Staff, “I Am Not Afraid of Death,” Newsweek, Jan. 10, 1999