'He was a very good kid and he loved me:' Osama bin Laden's mom speaks out in interview

Marina Pitofsky | USA TODAY

Osama bin Laden's mother, Alia Ghanem, spoke out for the first time this week about her son's life and radicalization in a bombshell interview with The Guardian.

Ghanem, who lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with her husband of more than 50 years and two of bin Laden's brothers in one of the most lavish homes in the country, sat down with Martin Chulov to discuss bin Laden's childhood and how he became the most famous terrorist in the world, responsible for the 9/11 attacks and others across the world.

The interview covers more than 50 years of the extremist's life, and bin Laden's family and friends blame everything from global political forces to bin Laden's own character for the former leader of al-Qaida's decades of fanaticism. Chulov spoke with bin Laden's mother and siblings, as well as Saudi officials, to piece together his life.

USA TODAY breaks down the most shocking revelations from the interview:

1. Bin Laden's family remembers a loving, passionate young man

Ghanem called bin Laden, her first born son, "shy," and "academically capable" as a child.

"He was a very good kid and he loved me so much," Ghanem told the newspaper.

Bin Laden became interested in politics and leadership in his early twenties, but his first foray into revolution was helping Afghanistan fight the Russian occupation in the 1980s, according to Ghanem.

"Everyone who met him in the early days respected him," bin Laden's brother Hassan said. "At the start, we were very proud of him. Even the Saudi government would treat him in a very noble, respectful way."

2. Bin Laden's college years brought radicalization into the family's life

Bin Laden studied economics at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah as a young man, and Ghanem points to his time as a student as the source of his extremism.

"He was a very good child until he met some people who pretty much brainwashed him in his early 20s. You can call it a cult," Ghanem said. "I would always tell him to stay away from them, and he would never admit to me what he was doing, because he loved me so much."

Chulov points to Abdullah Azzam as one of the biggest influences on bin Laden. A member of the violent, traditionalist group the Muslim brotherhood, he would go on to become bin Laden's spiritual adviser after being exiled from Saudi Arabia.

"We were extremely upset," Ghanem said. "I did not want any of this to happen. Why would he throw it all away like that?"

3. Not everyone in the family is convinced though

Bin Laden's brothers are less convinced that his college years are to blame for his radicalization.

"It has been 17 years now (since 9/11) and she remains in denial about Osama," bin Laden's brother Ahmad said. "She loved him so much and refuses to blame him. Instead, she blames those around him. She only knows the good boy side, the side we all saw. She never got to know the jihadist side."

The last time the family saw bin Laden was 1999, when they visited him at a base outside Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ahmad said when 9/11 arrived, they all knew bin Laden had been involved even though they didn't have contact leading up to the tragic day.

"I was shocked, stunned," Ahmad said."It was a very strange feeling. We knew from the beginning (that it was Osama), within the first 48 hours. From the youngest to the eldest, we all felt ashamed of him."

4. Family and friends tried to stop bin Laden's rise to power

Chulov also sat down with Saudi Arabian Prince Turki al-Faisal, who said the political turmoil surrounding the end of the Soviet occupation was a catalyst for bin Laden's beliefs.

"There are two Osama bin Ladens," al-Faisal said. "One before the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and one after it."

Al-Faisal described how bin Laden was an idealist prior to the end of the occupation, not an advocate for global terrorism. However, al-Faisal said bin Laden was a changed man when he met with bin Laden in the early 1990s.

"He had a poker face," al-Faisal said. "He never grimaced, or smiled."

Bin Laden's family also repeatedly tried to reach out to him during this time, visiting him and sending messages via emissaries, according to al-Faisal.

5. Bin Laden's family is concerned about Osama's son – and so is the world

Hamza bin Laden, 29, is thought to be in Afghanistan now, though the bin Laden family is unsure. Last year, he was designated a "global terrorist" by the United States and is working under al-Qaida's new leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"We thought everyone was over this," Hassan said, "Then the next thing I knew, Hamza was saying, 'I am going to avenge my father.'"

Hassan said the family hopes Hamza returns home, allowing the family to move forward.

"I don’t want to go through that again," Hassan said. "If Hamza was in front of me now, I would tell him, 'God guide you. Think twice about what you are doing. Don’t retake the steps of your father. You are entering horrible parts of your soul.'"