Yet when bin Laden returned to Jeddah and to the family business in autumn 1989, he was hailed as the conquering hero who had humbled a mighty superpower. Hoping to build on his celebrity, he approached Prince Turki Al Faisal, then head of Saudi Intelligence, with a plan to overthrow the Marxist regime in Yemen. The Saudi government refused and was worried enough to withdraw bin Laden’s passport. But it was America’s involvement in the Gulf War that turned bin Laden into an implacable opponent of the Saudi royal family. The Saudis were not disposed to tolerate his calls to insurrection, and quickly acted against him. In 1991 he was expelled from the country, and in 1994 his citizenship was revoked for “irresponsible behaviour”.