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CNN to show documentary on Osama Bin Laden today

The two-hour programme, anchored by CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Christian Amanpour, traces the footsteps of Osama bin Laden in a unique documentary entitled ‘In The Footsteps of Bin Laden.’

CNN, the first television news organisation to interview Osama bin Laden in 1997, uses never-before-seen photographs, video and even the minutes of the meeting in which Al Qaeda was created to weave a remarkable story of the world’s most wanted terrorist.

The programme 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.

Filmed in 10 countries on four continents, the documentary 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 radicalism from the late 1970s through the unique personal perspective of Amanpour.

The story of Muslim radicalism “did not begin with September 11^th,” said Amanpour. The Islamic Revolution that swept Iran in 1979, forcing the pro-American Shah from power, were the first signs that radicalism had emerged as a movement in the Middle East and the entire world continues feeling its shockwaves today,”

The documentary is based on ‘The Osama bin Laden I Know’ by CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.

In The Footsteps of Bin Laden can be viewed today at 1200 GMT and 1800 GMT.

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