The faith that drives Osama bin Laden and his followers is a particularly austere and conservative brand of Islam known as Wahhabism, which was instrumental in creating the Saudi monarchy, and if sufficiently alienated, could tear it down.

Islam didn't produce Mohamed Atta. He was born of his country's [Egypt] struggle to reconcile modernity with tradition.

Saudi Arabia's track record in previous terrorism investigations has been one of keeping its distance from the United States.

Even in World War II troops were sent into battle with assurances from Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chaplains that God was on their side and that their deaths would make them martyrs.

Mahamoud Bahi Radwan, the principal, held court behind his battered wooden desk at Mustafa Kamal Middle School on Monday, urging teachers seated on plastic chairs in his cramped office to discuss Egypt joining the battle against the forces who carried out what he called "the slap."

The House panel that oversees the nation's intelligence agencies has called for far reaching changes in intelligence operations.

A key to understading the plot behind the terrorist attacks in New York and on the Pentagon might lie in Germany, not the United States, a senior law enforcement official said.

The Bush administration plans to make public evidence linking Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda network to the terror attacks on the United States in an effort to persuade the world, and particularly Muslim nations, that a military response is justified.

The United States is sending bulletins to police and intelligence services around the world, trying to create a global network that could help round up 3,000 people in about 30 countries who are suspected of working with Osama bin Laden.

A six-year struggle to uncover Osama bin Laden's financial network failed because American officials did not skillfully use the legal tools they had, did not realize they needed stronger weapons, and faced resistance at home and abroad, officials involved in the effort say.