Osama bin Laden

Un article de Vev.

Modèle:Redirect Modèle:Sprotected2 Modèle:Infobox Military Person Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden (Modèle:Lang-ar; born 10 March 1957),<ref> Wanted: Usama Bin Laden

. Interpol

. Retrieved on 2006-05-15. </ref> most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a militant Islamist and is reported to be the founder of the terrorist organization called al-Qaeda.<ref>Michael Scheuer, Through Our Enemies' Eyes, p. 110</ref> He is a member of the prestigious and wealthy bin Laden family. In conjunction with several other Islamic militant leaders, bin Laden issued two fatwas—in 1996 and then again in 1998—that Muslims should kill civilians and military personnel from the United States and allied countries until they withdraw support for Israel and withdraw military forces from Islamic countries.<ref>BIN LADEN'S FATWA</ref><ref> Online NewsHour: Al Qaeda's 1998 Fatwa

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. Retrieved on 2006-08-21. </ref>

He has been indicted in United States federal court for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, and is on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Although bin Laden has not been indicted<ref> Eggen, Dan

  . 
 "
   Bin Laden, Most Wanted For Embassy Bombings? 
     
 " , The Washington Post
  , 28 August 2006
 
 . </ref> for the September 11, 2001 attacks, he has claimed responsibility for them<ref>"
   Osama claims responsibility for 9/11 
     
 " , The Times of India
  , May 24 2006
 
 . </ref> in videos released to the public.<ref name="cbc-2004">"
   Bin Laden claims responsibility for 9/11 
     
 " , CBC News
  , 29 October 2004
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-11-02
 . </ref> The attacks involved the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 11, American Airlines Flight 77, and the subsequent destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, and severe damage to The Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C.,<ref>"
   9/11 jurors face complex life or death decisions 
     
 " , CNN
  , 26 April 2006
 
 . </ref> along with the deaths of 2,974 victims.Modèle:Verify source

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Family and childhood

Main article: Bin Laden family

Osama Muhammed bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.<ref> frontline: hunting bin laden: who is bin laden?: chronology

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. Retrieved on 2006-08-21. </ref> In a 1998 interview, later televised on Al Jazeera, he gave his birth date as 10 March 1957. His father, the late Muhammed Awad bin Laden, was a wealthy businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family.<ref> Osama bin Laden infoplease

. Infoplease

. Retrieved on 2006-08-21. </ref> Before World War I, Muhammed, poor and uneducated, emigrated from Hadhramaut, on the south coast of Yemen, to the Red Sea port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he began to work as a porter. Starting his own business in 1930, Muhammed built his fortune as a building contractor for the Saudi royal family during the 1950s.

There is no definitive account of the number of children born to Muhammed bin Laden, but the number is generally put at 55. Various accounts place Osama as his seventeenth son. Muhammed bin Laden was married 22 times, although to no more than four women at a time per Sharia law. Osama was born the only son of Muhammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas, nee Alia Ghanem,<ref>Letter From Jedda, Young Osama, How he learned radicalism, and may have seen America, by Steve Coll, The New Yorker Fact, Issue of 2005-12-12, Posted 2005-12-05</ref> who was born in Syria.<ref> Salon.com News - The making of Osama bin Laden

. Salon.com

. Retrieved on 2006-08-21. </ref>

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The Al-Attases served as a step family in Jeddah

Osama's parents divorced soon after he was born, according to Khaled M. Batarfi, a senior editor at the Al Madina newspaper in Jeddah who knew Osama during the 1970s. Osama's mother then married a man named Muhammad al-Attas, who worked at the bin Laden company. The couple had four children, and Osama lived in the new household with three stepbrothers and one stepsister.<ref>Letter From Jedda, Young Osama, How he learned radicalism, and may have seen America, by Steve Coll, The New Yorker Fact, Issue of 2005-12-12, Posted 2005-12-05</ref>

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Education and politicization

Bin Laden was raised as a devout Sunni Muslim. From 1968 to 1976 he attended the "élite" secular Al-Thager Model School.<ref>[quote from Saleha Abedin, a longtime Jeddah educator, now a vice-dean of Jeddah's Dar Al-Hekma College, a private women’s college],The New Yorker Fact, Issue of 2005-12-12</ref> In the 1960s, King Faisal had welcomed exiled teachers from Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, so that by the early seventies it was common to find members of the Muslim Brotherhood teaching at Saudi schools and universities. During that time, bin Laden beccame a member of the Brotherhood and attended its political teachings during after-school Islamic study groups.

Bin Laden studied economics and business administration <ref>Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, Verso, 2005, p.xii</ref> at the Management and Economics School of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. Some reports suggest bin Laden earned a degree in civil engineering in 1979,<ref>Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Vol. 22. Gale Group, 2002, http://galenet.galegroup.com</ref> or a degree in public administration in 1981.<ref> Hunting Bin Laden: Who is Bin Laden?

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.</ref> Other sources describe him as having left university during his third year,<ref name="gunaratna-22">Modèle:Cite book</ref> never completing a college degree, though "hard working."<ref> Hug, Aziz

     (19 January 2006)
   
.    The Real Osama 
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.</ref> At university, bin Laden's main interest was religion, where he was involved in both in "interpreting the Quran and jihad" and charitable work.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.79</ref> A close friend reports, "we read Sayyid Qutb. He was the one who most affected our generation." <Ref>Mohammed Jamal Khalifa in Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.79</ref> Sayyid Qutb himself, author of Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq, or Milestones, one of the most influential tracts on the importance of jihad against all that is un-Islamic in the world,<ref name="gunaratna-22"/><ref>How Did Sayyid Qutb Influence Osama bin Laden?</ref> was deceased, but his brother and publicizer of his work, Muhammad Qutb, lectured regularly at the university. So did another charismatic Muslim Brotherhood member, Abdallah Azzam, an Islamic scholar from Palestine who was instrumental in building pan-Islamic enthusiasm for jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan and in drawing Muslims (like bin Laden) from all over the Middle East to fight there.<ref>Kepel, Jihad (2002), p.145–147</ref>

In regards to his Islamic learning, Bin Laden is sometimes referred to as a "sheikh," considered by some to be "well versed in the classical scriptures and traditions of Islam",<ref>Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden Verso, 2005, p.xvi</ref> and is said to have been mentored by scholars such as Musa al-Qarni.<ref>http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1082 Musa al-Qarni on Jihad]</ref> He has no formal training in Islamic jurisprudence however, and has been criticized by Islamic scholars as having no standing to issue religious opinions (fatwa).

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Married life in Jeddah

In 1974, at the age of seventeen, bin Laden married his first wife, his first cousin from Syria, Najwa Ghanem, his maternal uncle's daughter in Najwa's native land, at Latakia, in northwestern Syria.<ref>http://www.peterbergen.com/bergen/articles/details.aspx?id=233</ref><ref name="vanity"> "Vanity Fair excerpt of the book "The Osama bin Laden I Know" By Peter Bergen</ref> After the birth of his first son, Abdullah, they moved from his mother's house to a building in the Al-Aziziyah district of Jeddah.

Bin Laden is reported to have married four other women<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0203/12/ltm.10.html</ref> and divorced two, Umm Ali bin Laden (the mother of Ali) and Umm Abdullah. Umm Ali bin Laden was a University lecturer who studied in Saudi Arabia,<ref>http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1232212006</ref><ref>RACHEL WILLIAMS The Scotsman, "Bin Laden 'fantasized over Whitney Houston", 22 August 2006</ref> and spent holidays in Khartoum, Sudan, where Osama later settled during his exile in the years 1991 to 1996. According to Wisal al Turabi, the wife of Sudan's ruler Hassan Turabi, Umm Ali taught Islam to some families in Riyadh, an upscale neighborhood in Khartoum. The three latter wives of Osama bin Laden were all university lecturers, highly educated, and from distinguished families. According to Wisal al Turabi he married them because they were "spinsters," who "were going to go without marrying in this world. So he married them for the Word of God".<ref>http://www.peterbergen.com/bergen/articles/details.aspx?id=233</ref><ref name="vanity"/>

Umm Hamza, a professor child psychology, was reportedly his favorite wife, and his oldest, seven years older than bin Laden. She had only one child, a son. Though she had a frail constitution and was not beautiful, she was from "a wealthy and distinguished family," exuded a "regal quality," and "was deeply committed to the [jihadi] cause".<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.252</ref>
Umm Khaled, teacher of Arabic grammar (both women kept their university jobs and commuted to Saudi Arabia during their time in Sudan).<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.194</ref>
Umm Ali, asked for a divorce while in Sudan. According to Abu Jandal, bin Laden's former chief bodyguard, Osama's wife Umm Ali asked Osama for a divorce because she said that she "could not continue to live in an austere way and in hardship".<ref>http://www.peterbergen.com/bergen/articles/details.aspx?id=233</ref><ref name="vanity"/>
Umm Abdullah, or Najwa, was bin Laden's first wife and the mother of eleven children, the youngest and least educated. Her children did not like life in Khartoum and even less life in Afghanistan.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.194, p.338</ref> She left bin Laden around 2001, about the same time as his marriage to Amal al-Sada, a fifteen-year-old Yemeni girl who bin Laden married apparently as part of a "political arrangement" between him and "an important Yemeni tribe, meant to boost al-Qaeda recruitment in Yemen".<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.338</ref>

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Children

Bin Laden has fathered anywhere from 12 to 24 children.<ref>http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/OsamabinLaden.htm</ref> The children of his wife, Najwa, including Abdallah (born c. 1976), Omar, Saad and Muhammad. His son Muhammad bin Laden (born c. 1983) married the daughter of the late alleged al-Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef (aka Abu Haf) in January 2001, at Kandahar, Afghanistan.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.333-4</ref>

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Appearance and behavior

The FBI describes Osama bin Laden as tall and thin, between 6'4" and 6'6" (193–198 cm) in height and weighing about 165 pounds (75 kg). Interviewees of Lawrence Wright, on the other hand, describe him as quite slender, but not particularly tall.<ref>Lawrence Wright, Looming Tower (2006)</ref> He has an olive complexion, is left-handed, and usually walks with a cane. He wears a plain white turban and no longer dons the traditional Saudi male headdress, generally white.<ref> Most Wanted Terrorist - Usama Bin Laden

. FBI

. Retrieved on 2006-06-08. </ref>

In terms of personality, bin Laden is described as a soft-spoken, mild mannered man.<ref> 'I met Osama Bin Laden'

. BBC News

. Retrieved on 2006-05-15. </ref> His soft voice is also a function of necessity. Interviews with reporters have left his vocal cords inflamed and bin Laden unable to speak the following day. His bodyguard contends Soviet chemical weapon are to blame for this malady; reporters have speculated that kidney disease is the cause.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.263</ref>

Bin Laden's "wealth and generosity ... simplicity of ... behavior, personal charm and ... bravery in battle" have been described as "legendary."<ref>Kepel, Jihad, (2002), p.315</ref> According to Michael Scheuer, bin Laden claims to speak only Arabic. In a 1998 interview, he had the English questions translated into Arabic.<ref> Interview Osama bin Laden

. Hunting bin Laden
. PBS 
 
 (May 1998)

. Retrieved on 2007-05-27. </ref> But others, such as Rhimaulah Yusufzai and Peter Bergen, believe he understands English.<ref>Through Our Enemies' Eyes, Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam and the Future of America, by "Anonymous" aka Michael Scheuer, Brassey's, c2002</ref>

Bin Laden has been praised for his self-denial, despite his great wealth - or former great wealth. While living in Sudan, a lamb was slaughtered and cooked every evening at his home for guests, but bin Laden "ate very little himself, preferring to nibble what his guests left on their plates, believing that these abandoned morsels would gain the favor of God."<ref>interview by Wright with ObL friend Issam Turabi, in Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.200, 167</ref>

Bin Laden is said to have "consciously modeled himself" since childhood "on certain features of the Prophet's life", using "the fingers of his right hand," rather than a spoon when eating, believing it to be Sunnah "the way the Prophet did it, ... choosing to fast on the days that Prophet fasted, to wear clothes similar to those the Prophet may have worn, even to sit and to eat in the same postures that tradition ascribes to him."<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.200</ref>

At the same time, other actions of his are motivated by concern for appearances. Bin Laden is known for his media savvy, using the Islamic imagery of the cave in Tora Bora "as a way of identifying himself with the prophet in the minds of many Muslims," despite the fact the caves in question were tunnels dug with the modern technology of earth moving machinery to store ammunition.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.233</ref> He has dyed his beard to cover the streaks of gray. In 2001 he restaged a recitation of a poem intended for Arab television when he wasn't satisfied with the original video results done before an audience at his son's wedding dinner. The second take, done the next day after the wedding was over, had a handful of supporters crying in praise to simulate the noise of the full room the day before.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.333-4</ref> "His image management extended to asking one of the reporters, who had taken a digital snapshot, to take another picture because his neck was 'too full'".<ref>Wright, Looming Tower, (2006), p.333-4</ref>

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Beliefs and ideology

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Sharia

Bin Laden's vision of a political system - a restoration of Sharia law will set things right in the Muslim world - or as he put it, his

hope that the revelation unto Mohammed, peace be upon him, will be resorted to for ruling. When we used to follow Mohammed's revelation, peace be upon him, we were in great happiness and in great dignity, to God belongs the credit and praise,<ref>March 1997 interview with CNN reporter Peter Arnett quoted in Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.246</ref>

has been noted for its simplicity.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.246</ref> In the Muslim world he believed "the only Islamic country", was Afghanistan under the rule of Mullah Omar's Taliban before that regime was overthrown in late 2001.<ref>Messages, (2005), p.143. from Interview published in Al-Quds Al-Arabi in London Nov. 12, 2001 (originally published in Pakistani daily, Ausaf, Nov. 7</ref>

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Jihad

One of the few times his public statements have dealt with planning for anything that might be considered a political system was in a January 2004 message where he called for the establishment of provisional underground ruling councils in Muslim countries to be made up of "ulema, leaders who are obeyed among their people, dignitaries, nobles, and merchants." The councils would be sure "the people" had "easy access to arms, particularly light weapons; anti-armored rockets, such as RPGs; and tank mines" to fight "raids" by "the Romans," i.e. America.<ref>p.230, Messages to the World, (2005), "Resist the New Rome", 4 January 2004, videotape delivered to al-Jazeera</ref>

His interviews, video messages and other communications always mention and almost always dwell on need for jihad to right what he believes are injustices against Muslims by the United States and sometimes other non-Muslim states,<ref>Messages to the World, (2005), p.xix, xx, editor Bruce Lawrence </ref> the need to eliminate the state of Israel, and to force the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Middle East. Only occasionally do other issues arise, such as his call for Americans to "reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury," in a October 2002 letter.<ref>Oct. 6, 2002. Appeared in Al-Qala'a website and then the London Observer Nov. 24, 2002.</ref>

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America

Despite fighting on the same side as America in the Soviet-Afghan war, Bin Laden's hatred and disdain for America was manifest while he lived in Sudan. There he told Al-Qaeda fighters-in-training "America appeared so mighty ... but it was actually weak and cowardly. Look at Vietnam, look at Lebanon. Whenever soldiers start coming home in body bags, Americans panic and retreat. Such a country needs only to be confronted with two or three sharp blows, then it will flee in panic, as it always has. ... It cannot stand against warriors of faith who do not fear death."<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.187</ref>

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Killing of civilians

Probably the most controversial part of Bin Laden's ideology is that civilians, including women and children, may be deliberately killed in jihad. This position evolved from an earlier, less violent one. In a 1998 interview he alleged that in fighting jihad "we differentiate between men and women, and between children and old people," unlike hypocritical "infidels" who "preach one thing and do another."<ref>Messages, (2005) p.70. Al Jazeera interview, December 1998, following Kenya and Tanzania embassy attacks.</ref> But two years later he told another interviewer that those who say "killing a child is not valid" in Islam "speak without any knowledge of Islamic law", because killing children and other civilians may be done in vengeance.<ref>Messages, (2005), p.119, October 21, 2001 interview with Taysir Alluni of Al Jazeera</ref> To another question by a Muslim interviewer about the Muslims killed in the 9/11 attack, bin Laden replied that "Islamic law says that Muslim should not stay long in the land of infidels," although he suggested Muslim casualties in the attack were collateral not deliberate.<ref>"The main targets [of 9/11] were the symbols of the United States: their economic and military power. ..." from Interview published in Al-Quds Al-Arabi in London Nov. 12, 2001 (originally published in Pakistani daily, Ausaf, Nov. 7, 2001</ref>

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Other ideologies

In his messages, Bin Laden has opposed "pan-Arabism, socialism, communism, democracy and other doctrines," with, of course, the exception of Islam.<ref>Messages, 2005, p.218. "Resist the New Rome, audiotape delivered to al-Jazeera and broadcast by it on 4 January 2004</ref> Democracy and "legislative council[s] of representatives," are denounced, calling the first "the religion of ignorance," and the second "councils of polytheism."<ref>Messages to the World, (2005), p.208-9. "Quagmires of the Tigris and Euphrates," October 19, 2003, videotape delivered to al-Jazeera.</ref> In what one critics has called a contradiction,<ref>New York Review of Books, 9 March 2006, "Their Master's Voice" by Max Rodenbeck, review of Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden </ref> he has also praised the principle of governmental "accountability," citing the Western democracy of Spain: "Spain is an infidel country, but its economy is stronger than ours because the ruler there is accountable."<ref>Messages, (2005), p.227. "Resist the New Rome", audiotape delivered to al-Jazeera and broadcast by it on 4 January 2004</ref>

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Jews Christians and Shia

Bin Laden is profoundly anti-Jewish, and has delivered many warnings against alleged Jewish conspiracies: "These Jews are masters of usury and leaders in treachery. They will leave you nothing, either in this world or the next."<ref>Messages, (2005), p.190. from 53-minute audiotape that "was circulated on various websites." dated Feb. 14, 2003. "Among a Band of Knights."</ref> He has also made at least one clear denunciation of Christians: "Every Muslim, from the moment they realize the distinction in their hearts, hates American, hates Jews, and hates Christians. This is a part of our belief and our religion."<ref>Messages" (2005), p.87. Al Jazeera interview December 1998, following Kenya and Tanzania embassy attacks</ref>

Bin Laden's videos and interviews say nothing about Shia Muslims, but he is reported to have disapproved of attempts by people like Hassan al-Turabi "to make common cause with Shiites." Al-Qaeda ideology classes in Afghanistan listed Shia along with "Heretics, ... America and Israel," as the four principle "enemies of Islam".<ref>from interview with Ali Soufan - a Lebanese Sunni FBI agent - by Wright, Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.303</ref> At the same time, bin Laden's organization worked with Shia. While in Sudan, "senior managers in al Qaeda maintained contacts with" Shia Iran and Hezbollah, its closely allied Shia "worldwide terrorist organization. ... Al Qaeda members received advice and training from Hezbollah."<ref>9/11 Commission Report, p.240</ref> where they are thought to have borrowed the techniques of suicide and simultaneous bombing.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.174</ref> Because of the Shia-Wahhabi enmity, this collaboration could only go so far. Iran was rebuffed when it tried to strengthen relations with al Qaeda after the October 2000 attack on USS Cole, "because Bin Laden did not want to alienate his supporters in Saudi Arabia."<ref>9/11 Commission Report, p.240</ref>

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Music

As a Wahhabi Bin Laden also opposes music on religious grounds. Despite his love of horse racing and ownership of racing horses, the presence of a band and music at the Khartoum Sudan race track so annoyed him that he stopped attending races in Sudan. `Music is the flute of the devil,` he told his Sudanese stable-mate, Issam Turabi.<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.167</ref>

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Technology

On the subject of technology, Bin Laden is said to have ambivalent feelings - being interested in "earth-moving machinery and genetic engineering of plants, on the one hand," but rejecting "chilled water on the other."<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.172</ref> In Afghanistan, his sons' education reportedly eschews the arts and technology and amounts to "little other than memoriz[ing] the Quran all day."<ref>Wright, Looming Tower (2006), p.254</ref>

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Criticisms from "Wahabee" Salafee Scholars

Modèle:Wikify Modèle:Cleanup Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Haadee al-Madkhalee (Salafee-Wahabee Scholar of Saudi Arabia)said: "Those who set of the explosions in the Kingdom admitted with their own mouths, that they were affected by the Jamaa'atut-Takfeer (One of the Egyptian Qutubist groups) and that they were from the group of Usamah bin Laadin and al-Mas'aree<ref>The British based Muhamad al-Mas'aree was the founder of the Saudi Arabian wing of Hizbut-Tahreer (The Party of Liberation) in Saudi Arabia, one of the most light-headed of activist groups which has arisen in this century. Al-Mas'aree set up the CDLR (The Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights), which was refuted by Shaykh Uthaymeen, one of the Major Salafee Scholars of this century. Al-Mas'aree reviled Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab (i.e. "Wahhabism"), calling him a "simpleton and not a scholar" only because he centered his call around Tawheed (true Monotheism) and follwoing the sunnah (way) of the Prophet Muhammad, as opposed to calling people to insurgency. Ironically, al-Mas'aree, bin Laadin and others who follow his ideology are somehow still being linked to "Wahhabism".</ref>, and they were spreading their literature. Usamah bin Laadin; who taught this man? Who educated him in Sharee'ah? He is a businessman, this is his field of specialization...they admitted, as we said, with their own mouths, we saw it and read it in the newspapers, and I have it here with me recorded with their own voices, that they were affected by some of the people of takfeer (from the Qutubist groups) of Afghanistan. The majority of our youth that returned from the jihaad in Afghanistan to our country were affected, either by the ideology of the Ikhwaan (The Muslim Brotherhood) in general, or by the revolutionary, takfeeree ideology. So they left us believing that we were Muslims, and they returned to us believing that we were disbelievers. So with that, they saw us as being disbelievers, the rulers, and the (Wahabi) Scholars, not to mention the common-folk. They labeled the (Saudi "Wahhabi") state apostate, and they rendered the major ("Wahhabee-Salafee") Scholars apostate. They admitted this with their own mouths. They made takfeer(label of disbelief) of the scholars, and mentioned specifically the two Shaykhs, Shaykh 'Abdul-'Azeez ibn Baaz and Shaykh al-'Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve them. They mentioned their connection with al-Mas'aree and Usaamah bin Laadin. Did they get this from the scholars of Salafism? No! Rather they got it from the people of Takfeer(Qutubi, Ikhwani, Sufee ideology)." <ref>Abul-Hassan Malik, In Defense of Islam, T.R.O.I.D. Publications 2002, p.97.</ref>

Shaykh 'Abdul-'Azeez Ibn Baaz(died 1999), the former head of the council of scholars for Saudi Arabia, warned people far and wide about the destructiveness of the Qutbist ideology and its followers, such as Usaamah bin Laadin: "...It is obligatory to destroy and annihilate these publications that have emanated from al-Faqeeh, or from al-Mas'aree, or from others of the callers of falsehood(bin Laadin and those like him), and not to be lenient towards them. And it is obligatory to advise them, to guide them towards the truth, and to warn them against this falsehood. It is not permissible for anyone to co-operate with them in this evil. And it is obligatory upon them to be sincere and to come back to guidance and to leave alone and abandon this falsehood. So my advice to al-Mas'aree, al-Faqeeh and Bin Laadin and all those who traverse their ways is to leave alone this disastrous path, and to fear Allaah and to beware of His vengeance and His Anger, and to return to guidance and to repent to Allaah for whatever has preceded from them. And Allaah, Glorified, has promised His repentant servants that He will accept their repentance and be good to them. So Allah the Glorified said: "Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves. Do not despair of the Mercy of Allaah; verily, Allaah forgives all sins.' Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." [39:53].<ref>Majmoo'ul-Fataawaa wa Maqaalaatul-Mutanawwiyah, Volume 9, as quoted in Clarification of the Truth in Light of Terrorism, Hijackings & Suicide Bombings of Salafi Publications.</ref>

Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (Head of the Permanent Committee of Scholars of the "Wahhabee-Salafee" Scholars in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia)also warned of the dangers of this imported and revolutionary Qutbist call when he said, "...and Bin Laadin, who was also ungrateful, deviated from the path of the People of the Sunnah to the methodology of the Khawarij, and began to spread chaos and turmoil in the earth, and circulating corruption, but your Lord lies in wait of him and his kind."<ref>Refer to al-Ajwibatul-Mufeedah of Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (p.50, no.73).</ref>

Shaykh Muqbil Ibn Hadee al-Waadi'ee (died May 2001) one of many of the "Wahhaabee-Salafee" scholars of Yemen have also warned the people about the deviance and plots of Usaamah bin Laadin and the Khaarijite Qutbists. In the past few years, there have been unfounded accusations in certain Western media circles attempting to link the late Shaykh Muqbil Ibn Haadee al-Waadi'ee to Usaamah bin Laadin. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, as Shaykh Muqbil was known to be severe in his criticism towards all religious innovators, particularly those who attempted to stir up trouble in the land and harm the call to "Tawheed and the Sunnah. Shaykh Muqbil refuted Bin Laadin and his way, calling him a "murderous man."<ref>Taken from the cassette As'ilah ma' ash-Shaykh Muqbil min Britaaniyah, August 25, 1998.</ref>

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Usage variations of bin Laden's name

Because there is no universally accepted standard in the West for transliterating Arabic words and names into English, bin Laden's name is transliterated in many ways. The version often used by most English-language mass media is Osama bin Laden. Most American government agencies, including the FBI and CIA, use either Usama bin Laden or Usama bin Ladin, both of which are often abbreviated to UBL. Less common renderings include Ussamah Bin Ladin and Oussama Ben Laden (French-language mass media). The latter part of the name can also be found as Binladen or Binladin.

Strictly speaking, Arabic linguistic conventions dictate that he be referred to as "Osama" or "Osama bin Laden", not "bin Laden," as "Bin Laden," is not used as a surname in the western manner, but simply as part of his name, which in its entirety means "Osama, son of Mohammed, son of 'Awad, son of Laden". However, the bin Laden family (or "Binladin", as they prefer to be known) do generally use the name as a surname in the Western style. Consequently "bin Laden" has become nearly universal in Western references to him, Arabic convention notwithstanding.

Bin Laden also has several commonly used aliases and nicknames, including the Prince, the Sheikh, Al-Amir, Abu Abdallah, Sheikh Al-Mujahid, the Lion Sheik,<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090700279.html</ref> the Director, Imam Mehdi and Samaritan.<ref name="fbiwantednotice"> Most Wanted Terrorist - Usama Bin Laden

. FBI

. Retrieved on 2006-08-26. </ref>

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Militant activity

Main article: Militant activity of Osama bin Laden

After leaving college in 1979 bin Laden joined Abdullah Azzam, his old teacher from the university in Jeddah,<ref> [http:/http://www.infoplease.com/spot/osamabinladen.html Osama bin Laden: "Wealthy Saudi exile is a terrorist mastermind"]

. Infoplease

. Retrieved on 2006-12-16. </ref><ref> YOUNG OSAMA

. New Yorker

. Retrieved on 2006-12-16. </ref> to fight the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan<ref> Who is Osama Bin Laden?

. BBC News

. Retrieved on 2006-05-15. </ref> and lived for a time in Peshawar, a border city in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. <ref> Photo: Zbigniew Brzezinski & Osama bin Laden"

. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.</ref> By 1984, with Azzam, bin Laden established Maktab al-Khadamat, which funneled money, arms and Muslim fighters from around the Arabic world into the Afghan war. Through al-Khadamat, bin Laden's inherited family fortune<ref>Lawrence Wright estimates his "share of the Saudi Binladin Group" circa fall 1989 as "amounted to 27 million Saudi riyals - a little more than [US]$ 7 million." Wright, (2006), p.145)</ref> paid for air tickets and accommodation, dealt with paperwork with Pakistani authorities and provided other such services for the jihad fighters. In running al-Khadamat, bin Laden set up a network of couriers traveling between Afghanistan and Peshawar. During this time Bin Laden met his future al-Qaeda collaborator Ayman al-Zawahiri. For a while Osama worked at the Services Office working with Abdullah Azzam on Jihad Magazine, a magazine that gave information about the war with the soviets and interviewed mujahideen. As time passed, Ayman al-Zawahiri encouraged Osama to split away from Abdullah Azzam. Osama established a camp in Afghanistan, and with other volunteers fought the Soviets.

By 1988, bin Laden had split from Maktab al-Khidamat due to strategic differences. While Azzam and his MAK organization acted as support for Afghan fighters and provided relief to refugees and injured, bin Laden wanted more military role. One of the main leading points to the split and the creation of al-Qaeda was the insistence of Azzam that Arab fighters be integrated among the Afghan fighting groups instead of forming their separate fighting force.<ref>The Osama bin Laden I Know by Peter L. Bergen, pp. 74–88. ISBN 0-7432-7892-5</ref> In 1989, Azzam was blown up in a car bombing.

In 1990 Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia as a hero of jihad, who along with his Arab legion, "had brought down the mighty superpower" of the Soviet Union.<ref>Wright, Lawrence, Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, by Lawrence Wright, NY, Knopf, 2006 p.146</ref> However, during this time Iraq invaded Kuwait and bin Laden was alarmed that foreign non-Muslim troops would enter the kingdom to fight Iraq. He met with Saudi Prince Sultan, the Minister of Defense, and offered to help defend Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden was rebuffed and publicly denounced Saudi Arabia's dependence on U.S. military. Other Saudi Muslims were also upset that non-Muslim troops would be on the same peninsula as the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Anti-government Islamist militants in Saudi Arabia were even more inflamed when the foreign bases remained after the Gulf War was over. Bin Laden's criticism of the Saudi monarchy led the government to attempt to silence him. Hassan al-Turabi invited bin Laden to "transplant his whole organization to Sudan" in 1989. Bin Laden moved to Sudan in 1992.

Assisted by donations funneled through business and charitable fronts such as Benevolence International, and especially by his stipend from the Bin Laden family business empire, bin Laden established a new base for mujahideen operations in Khartoum. Bin Laden continued his verbal assault on Saudi King Fahd. On 5 March 1994, the King retaliated by personally revoking his citizenship and sending an embassary to Sudan to demand bin Laden's passport so that he no longer travel. His family was persuaded to cut off his monthly stipend equivalent of about $7 million a year.<ref>Wright, Looming Towers (2006), p.195</ref> By now Bin Laden was strongly associated with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) who made up the core of al-Qaeda by this time. In 1995 EIJ attempted to assassinate Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The attempt failed and disastrous backlash ensued. The EIJ was abruptly expelled from Sudan and bin Laden pressured to go also. Sudanese officials, whose government was under international sanctions, offered to expel Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1990s provided that the Saudis pardon him. The Saudis refused because they had already revoked his citizenship and would not accept him in their country.<ref> THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW TERRORISM

. The 9/11 Commission Report
. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 
 
 (2004-07-22)

. Retrieved on 2006-09-24. </ref> Consequently, in May 1996, under increasing pressure from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United States, Sudan asked bin Laden to leave. Bin Laden was forced to make a distress sale of his assets in Sudan that left with almost nothing.<ref>Wright, Looming Towers (2006), p.213-222</ref>

He returned to Afghanistan on a chartered plane and flew to Kabul before settling in Jalalabad after being invited by Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, leader of the Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan. After spending few months in the border region hosted by local leaders, bin Laden forged a close relationship with some of the leaders of Afghanistan's new Taliban government, notably Mullah Mohammed Omar.<ref> Profile: Mullah Mohammed Omar

. The 9/11 Commission Report
. BBC 
 
 (2004-07-22)

. Retrieved on 2006-09-28. </ref> Bin Laden supported the Taliban regime with financial and paramilitary assistance and, in 1997, he moved to Kandahar, the Taliban stronghold.<ref> THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW TERRORISM

. The 9/11 Commission Report
. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 
 
 (2004-07-22)

. Retrieved on 2006-09-24. </ref> In Afghanistan, Bin Laden and al-Qaeda raised money from "donors from the days of the Soviet jihad," and from ISI. This was done at old al-Qaeda camps in Khost which ISI had persuaded the Taliban to return to al-Qaeda control. <ref>Wright, Looming Towers (2006), p.250</ref>

In 1992 or 93 bin Laden sent an emissary, Qari el-Said, with $40,000 to Algeria to aid the Islamists there and warn them against compromise with the impious government. Total war did follow involving massacres of civilians and a declaration of takfir of Algerians by one of the Islamist factions (the GIA).<ref>Kepel, Jihad, (2002), p.272-3</ref> 150,000-200,000 Algerians were killed by the end of the war, but the government prevailed over the Islamists. Another unsuccessful effort by bin Laden was the Luxor massacre of November 17 1997, which Swiss federal police are reported to have found was funded by Bin Laden.<ref>Jailan Halawi, `bin Laden behind Luxor Massacre?` Al-Ahram Weekly, May 20-26, 1999.</ref><ref> Plett , Barbara

  . 
 "
   Bin Laden 'behind Luxor massacre' 
     
 " , BBC online network
  , 1999-05-13
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-24
 . </ref><ref>"
   Profile: Ayman al-Zawahiri 
     
 " , BBC online network
  , 2004-09-27
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-24
 . </ref> The attack by six al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya militants killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at Luxor Temple. Its goal was to derail the nonviolence initiative between the Egyptian government and Egyptian-based al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the major Egyptian militant Islamist group, but the attack turned the Egyptian public completely against Islamist terror. A later attack that did succeed, at least temporarily, was on Mazar-e-Sharif. While in Afghanistan bin Laden helped cement his alliance with his hosts the ruling Taliban by sending several hundred of his Afghan Arab fighters along to help the Taliban overrun Mazar-e-Sharif.<ref>Rashid, Taliban, p.139</ref> The city fell.

It is believed that the first terrorist attack involving bin Laden was the 29 December 1992, bombing of the Gold Mihor Hotel in Aden, Yemen. The attack was intended to kill American troops on the way to Somalia, but the soldiers were staying in a different hotel.<ref>Wright, Lawrence, Looming Tower, 2006, p.174</ref> The bombs killed a Yemeni hotel employee and an Austrian national and injured the Austrian's wife.<ref name="pbschronology"> who is bin laden?: chronology PBS

. Retrieved on 2006-09-06. </ref>

It was after this bombing that al-Qaeda was reported to have developed its justificiation for the killing of innocent people, such as the two bystanders at the hotel. According to a fatwa issued by Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, the killing of someone standing near the enemy is justified because any innocent bystander, like the Yemini hotel worker, will find their proper reward in death, going to Paradise if they were good Muslims and to hell if they were bad or non-believers.<ref>testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, U.S. v. Usama bin Laden, et.al.</ref> The fatwa was issued to al-Qaeda members but not the general public.

In 1998, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri co-signed a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, declaring: Modèle:Cquote

In response to the 1998 United States embassy bombings following the fatwa, President Bill Clinton ordered a freeze on assets that could be linked to bin Laden. Clinton also signed an executive order, authorizing bin Laden's arrest or assassination. In August 1998, the U.S. launched an attack using cruise missiles. The attack failed to harm bin Laden but killed 19 people.<ref>"

   Taliban bargained over bin Laden, documents show 
     
 " , CNN.com
  , 2005-08-19
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-06
 . </ref>

The FBI stated that evidence linking Al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of September 11 is clear and irrefutable.<ref> Watson, Dale L., Executive Assistant Director, Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Division, FBI

     (6 February 2002)
   
.    "The Terrorist Threat Confronting the United States", Congressional Testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 
. Federal Bureau of Investigation

.</ref> The Government of the United Kingdom reached the same conclusion regarding Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden's culpability for the September 11, 2001, attacks.<ref> Responsibility for the Terrorist Atrocities in the United States, 11 September 2001

. 10 Downing Street, Office of the Prime Minister of the UK 
 
 (2001, November 14)

. Retrieved on 2006-09-29. </ref> However, a "White Paper" by the U.S. government, documenting the case against bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization concerning the September 11 attacks, publicly promised by Secretary of State Colin Powell, was never published. In 2006, Rex Tomb of the FBI's public affairs unit said, "The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11".<ref> "June 6 2006: FBI Spokesman Says ‘No Hard Evidence’ Connects Bin Laden to 9/11"

. Cooperative Research, History Commons Project

.</ref> So far, the U.S. Justice Department has not sought formal criminal charges against bin Laden (or anyone but Zacarias Moussaoui) for the 9/11 attacks. Two separate indictments were made against bin Laden by two separate grand juries in 1998 for two separate terrorist acts, though no indictments have been filed against him for the events of 9/11.

Bin Laden initially denied involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks while praising them effusely, explaining their motivation, and dismissing American accusations of his involvement as an example of its hatred for Islam. On 16 September 2001, bin Laden read a statement later broadcast by Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite channel saying:

I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation.<ref>Fox News. "Pakistan to Demand Taliban Give Up Bin Laden as Iran Seals Afghan Border." 16 September 2001.</ref>

God has struck America at its Achilles heel and destroyed its greatest buildings, praise and blessing to Him.<ref>October 21, 2001 interview with Taysir Alluni of Al Jazeera</ref>

Bin Laden claimed the Taliban were being attacked by American forces

because of their religion, not just because of the presence of Osama bin Laden … It is a known fact that America is against the establishment of any Islamic state.<ref>October 21, 2001 interview with Taysir Alluni of Al Jazeera</ref>

Image:Bin laden 12 27a.jpg

Osama bin Laden on 27 December 2001.

In November 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape in Jalalabad. In it Laden discusses the attack with Khaled al-Harbi in a way indicating foreknowledge of the attack. "We calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy;" and "We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event [the 9/11 attack] would take place that day."<ref>"

   Bin Laden on tape: Attacks 'benefited Islam greatly' 
     
 " , CNN
  , December 14, 2001
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-07
 . </ref> The tape was broadcast on various news networks on 13 December 2001. Some have disputed this translation however. On 20 December 2001, German TV channel "Das Erste" broadcast its analysis of the White House's translation of the videotape. On the show Monitor, two independent translators and an expert on oriental studies found the White House's translation to be not only inaccurate, but also "manipulative". Arabist Dr. Abdel El M. Husseini, one of the translators, stated: "I have carefully examined the Pentagon's translation. This translation is very problematic. At the most important places where it is held to prove the guilt of Bin Laden, it is not identical with the Arabic."<ref>   "Bin-Laden-Video: Falschübersetzung als Beweismittel? 
. WDR, Das Erste, MONITOR Nr. 485 am 20.12.2001

.</ref>

Another bin Laden video was released on 27 December 2001, with much the same message as his first. America had accused him of organizing the attacks because of "Crusader hatred for the Islamic World.

Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to … the continuous injustice inflicted upon our sons in Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, southern Sudan, and … Kashmir.<ref>" Transcript: Bin Laden video excerpts " , BBC News , 27 December 2001 . Retrieved on 2006-09-07 . </ref>

Shortly before the U.S. presidential election in 2004, another taped statement was released and aired on Al Jazeera in which bin Laden abandoned his denials without retracting past statements. In it he told viewers he had personally directed the 19 hijackers,<ref name="cbc-2004"/><ref>"

   Al-Jazeera: Bin Laden tape obtained in Pakistan 
     
 " , MSNBC
  , 30 October 2004
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-07
 . —"In the tape, bin Laden—wearing traditional white robes, a turban and a tan cloak—reads from papers at a lectern against a plain brown background. Speaking quietly in an even voice, he tells the American people that he ordered the September 11 attacks because “we are a free people” who wanted to "regain the freedom" of their nation."</ref> and gave what he claimed was his motivation:

I will explain to you the reasons behind these events, and I will tell you the truth about the moments when this decision was taken, so that you can reflect on it. God knows that the plan of striking the towers had not occurred to us, but the idea came to me when things went just too far with the American-Israeli alliance's oppression and atrocities against our people in Palestine and Lebanon.<ref>" Excerpts: Bin Laden video " , BBC News . Retrieved on 2006-11-02 . </ref><ref>" Excerpts: Bin Laden video " , BBC News . Retrieved on 2006-11-02 . </ref>

According to the tapes, bin Laden claimed he was inspired to destroy the World Trade Center after watching the destruction of towers in Lebanon by Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.<ref>Excerpts: Bin Laden video. BBC Online/</ref>

In two other tapes aired by Al Jazeera in 2006, Osama bin Laden announces,

I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers … I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers … with the raids [5 minute audiotape broadcast May 23, 2006],<ref>[1] Newsday</ref>

and is seen with Ramzi Binalshibh, as well as two of the 9/11 hijackers, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri, as they make preparations for the attacks (videotape broadcast September 7, 2006).<ref>"

   Bin Laden 9/11 planning video aired 
     
 " , CBC News
  , September 7 2006
 
 . </ref>

Dispite this, bin Laden is reported to have complained as recently as November 2007 of the lack "of evidence admissible in court" tying him and his organization to the 9/11 attack.<ref>Bin Laden's Message to the Europeans posted November 29, on the Islamist website Al-Ekhlaas </ref>

[modifier]

Criminal charges and attempted extradition

The 9/11 Commission Report concludes, "In February 1996, Sudanese officials began approaching officials from the United States and other governments, asking what actions of theirs might ease foreign pressure. In secret meetings with Saudi officials, Sudan offered to expel bin Ladin to Saudi Arabia and asked the Saudis to pardon him. U.S. officials became aware of these secret discussions, certainly by March. Saudi officials apparently wanted bin Ladin expelled from Sudan. They had already revoked his citizenship, however, and would not tolerate his presence in their country. Also bin Ladin may have no longer felt safe in Sudan, where he had already escaped at least one assassination attempt that he believed to have been the work of the Egyptian or Saudi regimes, or both. On 19 May 1996, bin Ladin left Sudan—significantly weakened, despite his ambitions and organizational skills. He returned to Afghanistan."<ref>"

   9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 2 
     
 " , 9/11 Commission
 
 . </ref> The 9/11 Commission Report further states "In late 1995, when Bin Ladin was still in Sudan, the State Department and

the CIA learned that Sudanese officials were discussing with the Saudi government the possibility of expelling Bin Ladin. U.S. Ambassador Timothy Carney encouraged the Sudanese to pursue this course. The Saudis, however, did not want Bin Ladin, giving as their reason their revocation of his citizenship. Sudan’s minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Ladin over to the United States. The Commission has found no credible evidence that this was so. Ambassador Carney had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel Bin Ladin. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding."<ref>"

   9/11 Commission Report, Chapter 4 
     
 " , 9/11 Commission
 
 . </ref>

On 8 June 1998, a United States grand jury indicted Osama bin Laden on charges of killing five Americans and two Indians in the 13 November 1995, truck bombing of a U.S.-operated Saudi National Guard training center in Riyadh.<ref name="cron"> Frontline

 ; The New York Times and Rain Media

       ([2001?])
     
   
 
.    "Osama bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life" 
. Hunting bin Laden: Who Is bin Laden?
. WGBH Educational Foundation

. Retrieved on 2006-07-25. </ref> Bin Laden was charged with "conspiracy to attack defense utilities of the United States" and prosecutors further charged that bin Laden is the head of the terrorist organization called al Qaeda, and that he was a major financial backer of Islamic terrorists worldwide.<ref name="cron"/> Bin Laden denied involvement but praised the attack.

On 4 November 1998, Osama bin Laden was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on charges of Murder of U.S. Nationals Outside the United States, Conspiracy to Murder U.S. Nationals Outside the United States, and Attacks on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death<ref> Indictment #S(9) 98 Cr. 1023

. United States District Court, Southern District of New York

.</ref> for his alleged role in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

The evidence against bin Laden included courtroom testimony by former Al Qaeda members and satellite phone records.<ref>"

   Embassy bombing defendant linked to bin Laden 
     
 " , CNN
  , 14 February 2001
 
 . </ref><ref>   Profile: Osama bin Laden 
. Cooperative Research

.</ref>

On 7 June 1999, bin Laden became the 456th person listed on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, following his indictment along with others for capital crimes in the 1998 embassy attacks.

Attempts at assassination and requests for the extradition of bin Laden from the Taliban of Afghanistan were met with failure.<ref>"

   Osama bin Laden 'innocent' 
     
 " , BBC News
  , 21 November 1998
 
 . </ref> In 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton convinced the United Nations to impose sanctions against Afghanistan in an attempt to force the Taliban to extradite him.

Years later, on 10 October 2001, bin Laden appeared as well on the initial list of the FBI's top 22 Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by the President of the United States George W. Bush, in direct response to the attacks of 9/11, but which was again based on the indictment for the 1998 embassy attack. Bin Laden was among a group of thirteen fugitive terrorists wanted on that latter list for questioning about the 1998 embassy bombings. Bin Laden remains the only fugitive ever to be listed on both FBI fugitive lists.

[modifier]

Attempted capture by the U.S.

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. government concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the Battle of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001, and according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, failure by the U.S. to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him led to his escape and was the gravest failure by the U.S. in the war against al Qaeda.^{[citation needed]} Intelligence officials have assembled what they believe to be decisive evidence, from contemporary and subsequent interrogations and intercepted communications, that bin Laden began the battle of Tora Bora inside the cave complex along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border.<ref>Washington Post, 17 April 2002, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16 last visited 2/25/07</ref>

The Washington Post also reported<ref>[2]</ref> that the CIA unit dedicated to capturing Osama was shut down in late 2005.

U.S. and Afghanistan forces raided the mountain caves in Tora Bora between 14 August and 16 August 2007. The military was drawn to the area after receiving intelligence of a pre-Ramadan meeting held by al Qaeda members. After killing dozens of al Qaeda and Taliban members, they did not find either Osama bin Laden or Ayman al Zawahiri.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21000298/</ref>

[modifier]

Bounty

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. government officials named bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda organization as the prime suspects<ref name="CNN-20010912"/> and offered a reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture or death.<ref> Five Years Ago Today - Usama bin Laden: Wanted for Murder

. Federal Bureau of Investigation 
 
 (5 November 2003)

.</ref><ref name="fbiwantednotice" /> On 13 July 2007, this figure was doubled to $50 million.<ref name="BBCJuly07"> "Senate doubles Bin Laden reward"

. BBC News 
 
 (2007-07-13)

. Retrieved on 2007-07-14. </ref>

The Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association are offering an additional $2 million reward.<ref>"

   Officials, friends can't confirm Bin Laden death report 
     
 " , CNN
  , 24 September 2006
 
 . </ref>

[modifier]

Current whereabouts

Main article: Location of Osama bin Laden

Claims as to the location of Osama bin Laden have been made since December 2001, although none have been definitively proven and some have placed Osama in different locations during overlapping time periods.

A 11 December 2005, letter from Atiyah Abd al-Rahman to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi indicates that bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership were based in the Waziristan region of Pakistan at the time. In the letter, translated by the military's Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, "Atiyah" instructs Zarqawi to "send messengers from your end to Waziristan so that they meet with the brothers of the leadership … I am now on a visit to them and I am writing you this letter as I am with them…" Al-Rahman also indicates that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are "weak" and "have many of their own problems." The letter has been deemed authentic by military and counterterrorism officials, according to the Washington Post.<ref> Karen DeYoung

  . 
 "
   Letter Gives Glimpse of Al-Qaeda's Leadership 
     
 " , Washington Post
  , 2 October 2006
 
 . </ref><ref>"
   Letter Exposes New Leader in Al-Qa`ida High Command (PDF) 
     
 " , Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
  , 25 September 2006
 
 . </ref>

In 2001, according to a spokesman for a company producing fingerprint scanners for San Francisco International Airport, the United States probably did not have Osama bin Laden's fingerprints on file.<ref> SFO to buy high-tech fingerprint scanner

 (2001-10-19)

.</ref>

[modifier]

Reports of his death

Main article: Location of Osama bin Laden

Reports alleging Osama bin Laden's death have circulated since late 2001.<ref>"Report: Bin Laden Already Dead", by Fox News, 2001-12-26</ref> In the months following the 9/11 terrorist attack, many people believed that bin Laden was dead. This belief was perpetuated by subsequent media reports often referencing bin Laden's serious health problems,<ref>Health & Medical History of Osama bin Laden</ref> though there has been stronger evidence to suggest that he is still alive.^{[citation needed]}

[modifier]

April 2005

The Sydney Morning Herald stated "Dr Clive Williams, director of terrorism studies at the Australian National University, says documents provided by an Indian colleague suggested bin Laden died of massive organ failure in April last year … 'It's hard to prove or disprove these things because there hasn't really been anything that allows you to make a judgment one way or the other', Dr. Williams said."<ref>"Expert says bin Laden could be dead", by Australian Associated Press, 16 January 2006, in the Sydney Morning Herald.</ref>

[modifier]

August 2006

On 23 September 2006, the French newspaper L'Est Républicain quoted a report from the French secret service (DGSE) stating that Osama bin Laden had died in Pakistan on 23 August 2006, after contracting a case of typhoid fever that paralyzed his lower limbs.^{[citation needed]} According to the newspaper, Saudi security services first heard of bin Laden's alleged death on 4 September 2006.<ref>"

   French paper says bin Laden died in Pakistan 
     
 " , Reuters
  , 2006-09-23
 
 . </ref><ref>   Sammari , Laïd 
       
   
  . 
 "
   Oussama Ben Laden serait mort 
     
 " , L'Est Républicain
  , 2006-09-23
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-23
 .  (French) 
  </ref><ref>"
   Chirac says no evidence bin Laden has died 
     
 " , MSNBC.com/AP
  , 2006-09-23
 
  . Retrieved on 2006-09-23
 . </ref>

The alleged death was reported by the Saudi Arabian secret service to its government, which reported it to the French secret service. The French defense minister Michèle Alliot-Marie expressed her regret that the report had been published while French President Jacques Chirac declared that bin Laden's death had not been confirmed.<ref>"

   Information sur la mort de ben Laden: Washington ne confirme pas 
     
 " , Le Monde/Agence France-Presse
  , 2006-09-23
 
 .  (French) 
  </ref> American authorities also cannot confirm reports of bin Laden's death,<ref>   Anna Willard and David Morgan
     
   
  . 
 "
   France, US, unable to confirm report bin Laden dead 
     
 " , Reuters
  , 2006-09-23
 
 .  (English) 
  </ref> with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying only, "No comment, and no knowledge."<ref name=AFP>The Age (2006). Doubts over bin Laden death. Retrieved on 24 September 2006.</ref> Later, CNN's Nic Robertson said that he had received confirmation from an anonymous Saudi source that the Saudi intelligence community has known for a while that bin Laden has a water-borne illness, but that he had heard no reports that it was specifically typhoid or that he had died.<ref>"
   Conflicting reports: Bin Laden could be dead or ill 
     
 " , CNN
  , 2006-09-23
 
 .  (English) 
  </ref>

[modifier]

Official video/audio releases

Main article: Videos of Osama bin Laden

On 6 September 2007, bin Laden's image was posted at a banner advertisement on an Islamic militant Web site (where al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab posts messages). In the image, bin Laden's beard had been dyed (a popular practice among Arab leaders). Al-Sahab said that bin Laden will release a new video ahead of the 6th anniversary of the 11 September attacks (the first new images in 3 years). The video was released on 7 September 2007.<ref>AP, Osama bin Laden will release a new video</ref>

[modifier]

References

[modifier]

Bibliography

Peter L. Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know (New York: Free Press, 2006
Michael Scheuer, Through Our Enemies' Eyes, Washington, D.C. : Brassey's, c2002
Wright, Lawrence, The Looming Tower : Al-Qaeda And The Road To 9/11, New York : Knopf, 2006.

[modifier]