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Originally Posted by Glengoyne
I have always gotten the impression that they had him in custody.
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Sudan made back channel offers to take him into custody and turn him over to the Saudis, but nobody really believed Sudan had the ability or even the will to do this. Think about it -- it's not like you just show up and arrest Osama bin Laden, as events in Afghanistan have demonstrated. And Sudan isn't exactly a superpower and its government wasn't exactly trustworthy (in fact, the Americans believed Sudan had plotted to assisinate the US NSA and many thought the bin Laden offer was just a ruse to take the heat off Sudan for the alleged assasination plot). The bigger problem, according to the Americans, was what to do with him even if Sudan could take him into custody. These events were happening in the Spring of 1996, but there were no indictments then (the Jihad wasn't declared until August 1996 and the grand jury investigation didn't even start until August 1996). So, it was argued, the US did not have grounds to take him into custody at the time (this was before the US had concentration camps in Cuba). The proposal was to give him to the Saudis where the rule of law is not an issue, but the Saudis refused to take him.