Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11 - Episode Guide

The first episode focuses on his childhood in Saudi Arabia, and reveals how as a young man in 1980, he travelled to Afghanistan to join resistance against the Soviet invasion. While considered a liability on the battlefield, his wealth and family background in construction proves invaluable after the Soviet withdrawal - but the success of his endeavours leads to the founding of Al Qaeda.

The second episode follows Osama bin Laden on his triumphant return to Saudi Arabia following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein creates a rift between bin Laden and his home country, as the Saudi royal family seek military aid from the US. Outraged at what he sees as an unacceptable American presence in Muslim holy lands, he reinvents himself as an agricultural producer while declaring a Jihad against the Americans occupying the Arab peninsula.

The final episode begins in 1997 with al-Qaeda ramping up operations in Afghanistan, and Bin Laden grants rare interviews to US TV networks from his mountain base to communicate his threats straight into US homes. In 1998, he issues his infamous fatwa calling for the murder of any American, anywhere on Earth. Bomb attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya follow months later, prompting a US missile attack on Bin Laden's training camp, and he is placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.