CNN, the first television news organization to interview Osama bin Laden in 1997, presents
In the Footsteps of bin Laden, a two-hour investigation, anchored by CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour. This unique documentary paints a revealing portrait of bin Laden and his transformation from a privileged child to notorious terrorist using first-hand accounts of the people who have known him throughout his life.
From his peaceful teenage years to orchestrating the events on 9/11, viewers are taken on a global journey, tracing the path of bin Laden’s life from his childhood home and school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to his residence in Peshawar, Pakistan, where al-Qaeda was born, and to the mountains of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where he is being hunted today.
Using never-before-seen photographs, video and even the minutes of the meeting in which al-Qaeda was created, In the Footsteps of bin Laden weaves a remarkable story of the world’s most hunted terrorist.
“In the Footsteps of bin Laden is a unique insight into the world of a man who is both feared and revered around the world,” said Rena Golden, Senior Vice President CNN International. “For so long cloaked in myth and mystery his life has now been documented on television for CNN’s international audience by Christiane Amanpour.”
Filmed in 10 countries on four continents, In the Footsteps of bin Laden features 21 first-person accounts of bin Laden from his relatives, childhood friends, former schoolteacher, co-jihadists, bodyguard and even the wife of an al-Qaeda suicide bomber -- many of them breaking their silence for the first time on camera.
In the Footsteps of bin Laden ties the evolution of bin Laden’s philosophy to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism from the late 1970s through the unique personal perspective of Amanpour.
“The story of militant Islamic fundamentalism did not begin with September 11th,” said Amanpour. “The Islamic Revolution that swept Iran in 1979, forcing the pro-American Shah from power, were the first signs that Fundamentalist Islam had awoken as a movement in the Middle East and the entire world continues feeling its shockwaves today.”
This documentary is based on The Osama bin Laden I Know by CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen. His book offers numerous new details about bin Laden’s transformation from a quiet, well-bred boy to the Western world’s most wanted terrorist. Bergen, an author and a Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., was a CNN producer at the time of the now famous interview with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in March 1997. Bergen, along with others, is featured in the CNN documentary and is credited as a co-producer.
‘In The Footsteps of Bin Laden’ can be seen on Thursday 24th August at 1200 GMT and 1800 GMT
