Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born revolutionary who is believed by most Arab and Iranian observers to be the inspiration of the attacks in New York and Washington, is the best known of the Islamic militants to have emerged in the past 20 years and the least difficult to fathom.

The Honourable James Buchan born 11 June 1954 is a British novelist and journalist. He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College Oxford and began his career as a Financial Times correspondent writing from the Middle East Germany and the United States. Biography
Buchan is the son of William Buchan 3rd Baron Tweedsmuir and grandson of John Buchan 1st Baron Tweedsmuir the Scottish novelist and diplomat.