”We got him” - these were the words used by the US Presidential Envoy to Iraq to announce the capture of Saddam Hussein. A liberating pronouncement which the world continues to wait for in vain in connection with Osama bin Laden. It is as though the earth had swallowed up the prophet of terror. But unlike Saddam Hussein he does not appear to have retreated on his own to a small farm, supported by a few trusty followers, and ultimately to have buried himself in a miserable hole in the ground. As far as the intelligence services know, Bin Laden is roaming the tribal regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan together with his disciples – an itinerant preacher. He is accompanied by his managers of global terrorism and a virtually professional PR team which trumpets forth the message of hatred against all those of a different faith – first and foremost the United States and Israel – by audio and video tape. Who is this man who has become the wirepuller and symbol of the global terrorist war? How did the architect and businessman Osama bin Laden become a fanatic religious warrior, who imagines himself to possess the sole religious truth and is prepared to walk over thousands of dead bodies in the fight for Allah? He orders murders to be committed in the name of Allah, has declared war on America and is the scourge of the modern West: Osama bin Laden. With the attacks of 11 September, he and his henchmen changed the world. His terror is the greatest threat of our age.