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Bin Laden interviewer, terrorism expert to speak at St. Olaf

By Mara Kumagai Fink '11
March 9, 2009

In 1997 Peter Bergen produced Osama bin Laden's first television interview. This week, CNN's national security analyst and best-selling author will be the Political Action Committee's spring speaker.

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Bergen will speak Wednesday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Boe Memorial Chapel. He will also sign copies of his New York Times best-selling book, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader, following the presentation.

The focus of Bergen's lecture will be on the state of the Middle East and how the stability of the area affects the national security concerns of the United States. He will also discuss The Osama bin Laden I Know, a work that includes more than 50 interviews Bergen conducted with people who knew bin Laden, including his high school English teacher and brother-in-law. The book was named one of the best non-fiction books in 2006 by the Washington Post, translated into three languages, and made into a two-hour documentary that aired on CNN.

Bergen has traveled widely throughout the Middle East and written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. Another one of Bergen's books, Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of bin Laden, was also another New York Times best seller.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.