April 5, 2002

Journalist Peter Bergen is Fr. Carter Lecture Series speaker

The seventh annual Fr. Carter Lecture Series will feature journalist Peter Bergen, internationally known for his face to face interview with terrorist Osama bin Laden. The lecture will be held on April 18, 2002, at 7:30 p.m., in Roussel Hall. This lecture series honors Loyola's longest-tenured president, the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., who served 20 years at the university.

Bergen is one of only a few Western journalists to have interviewed the world's most wanted man, bin Laden. Bergen has covered him and the Jihadist terrorist network for CNN for nearly a decade. He has interviewed scores of insiders, from bin Laden associates and family members to Taliban leaders to CIA officials to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. As a widely respected authority on global terrorism, he has traveled extensively to the places where al-Qaeda has flourishedamong them Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, England, and Pakistan.

Bergen's book, Holy War, Inc: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden, was scheduled for release in 2002 but because of its relevance to America's war on terrorism, was published early. It will soon be released in paperback.

Bergen's expert commentary is seen and heard on CNN, ABC News, PBS, National Public Radio and the Daily Telegraph of London, where he has produced a variety of news stories and documentaries. He covered the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the bombing of the USS Cole, reporting both from Washington and Yemen. He has written extensively about Islamic militancy, and his articles have appeared in publications including The New Republic, The Washington Times, Vanity Fair and The Times of London. He received his B.A. in modern history from New College at Oxford University in 1984, when he also moved to the United States.