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Osama bin Laden
أسامة بن لادن
Bin Laden in 1997
Buried
North Arabian Sea
AllegianceAl-Qaeda
Service/branchSunni Islam (Wahhabism)
Battles/warsSoviet war in Afghanistan
War on Terror:

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (/[invalid input: 'icon']oʊˈsɑːmə bɪn ˈlɑːdən/; Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن, ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin) (March 10, 1957– May 2, 2011)[1][2][3] was the founder of the al-Qaeda organization, responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. He was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family.

Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings.[4][5][6] From 2001 to 2011, bin Laden and his organization have been major targets of the War on Terror, which has resulted in a total of between 80,000 and 1.2 million civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia between 2001 and 2007.

On April 29, 2011,[7] U.S. President Barack Obama authorized a raid on bin Laden's suspected location near Abbottabad, Pakistan. The operation was successfully carried out in the early morning of May 2 (due to weather and time considerations) by U.S. Navy SEALs with intelligence support from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[2][8] Toward the end of the raid, bin Laden was fatally shot in the head and chest.[9] The entire raid, including intelligence sweeps of the compound, was completed in less than 40 minutes. His body was taken and facial recognition tests were performed.[10] Later, genetic testing further supported bin Laden's identification. Within 24 hours of his death, bin Laden's body was taken out to sea for burial.[10]

Name

There is no universally accepted standard for transliterating Arabic words and Arabic names into English;[11] bin Laden's name was most frequently rendered "Osama bin Laden". The FBI and CIA, as well as other US Governmental agencies, have used either "Usama bin Laden" or "Usama bin Ladin", both of which may be abbreviated as "UBL". Less common renderings include "Ussamah Bin Ladin" and "Oussama Ben Laden" in the French-language media. Other spellings include "Binladen" or, as used by his family in the West, "Binladin". The spellings with o and e come from a Persian-influenced pronunciation also used in Afghanistan, where bin Laden spent many years.

The Arabic linguistic convention would be to refer to him as "Osama" or "Osama bin Laden", not "bin Laden" alone, as "bin Laden" is a patronymic, not a surname in the Western manner. In its expanded form, it means "Osama, son of Mohammed, son of Awad, son of Laden".

Osama bin Laden's admirers have referred to him by several aliases and nicknames, including the Prince(Al-Amir), the Sheikh, Abu Abdallah, Sheikh Al-Mujahid, and the Lion Sheik,[12] the Director.[13]

Childhood, education and personal life

Main article: Childhood, education and personal life of Osama bin Laden
See also: Bin Laden family

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (/[invalid input: 'icon']oʊˈsɑːmə bɪn moʊˈhɑːm[invalid input: 'ɨ']d bɪn əˈwɑːd bɪn ˈlɑːdən/) was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,[14] the son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a wealthy businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family,[15] and Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas.[16] In a 1998 interview, Osama gave his birth date as March 10, 1957.[17]

Osama's parents divorced soon after he was born; Osama's mother then married Mohammed al-Attas. The couple had four children, and Osama lived in the new household with three half-brothers and one half-sister.[16]

Osama was raised as a devout Wahhabi Muslim.[18] From 1968 to 1976, he attended the élite secular Al-Thager Model School.[16][19] He studied economics and business administration[20] at King Abdulaziz University. Some reports suggest he earned a degree in civil engineering in 1979,[21] or a degree in public administration in 1981.[22] One source described him as "hard working",[23]; another said he left university during his third year without completing a college degree.[24] At university, Osama's main interest was religion, where he was involved in both "interpreting the Quran and jihad" and charitable work.[25] He also wrote poetry.[26]

In 1974, at the age of 17, Osama married Najwa Ghanem at Latakia.[27] According to CNN national security correspondent David Ensore, as of 2002 Osama had married four women and fathered roughly 25 or 26 children.[28] Other sources report that he has fathered anywhere from 12 to 24 children.[29]

Mohammed bin Laden was killed in 1967 in an airplane crash in Saudi Arabia when his American pilot misjudged a landing.[30] Osama's eldest half-brother, Salem bin Laden, the subsequent head of the bin Laden family, was killed in 1988 near San Antonio, Texas in the United States, when he accidentally flew a plane into power lines.

The FBI described Osama as an adult as tall and thin, between 6'4" and 6'6" (193– 198 cm) in height and weighing about 165 pounds (75 kg). Interviewer Lawrence Wright, on the other hand, describe him as quite slender, but not particularly tall.[31] Osama had an olive complexion and was left-handed, usually walking with a cane. He wore a plain white turban and had stopped wearing the traditional Saudi male headdress.[32] Bin Laden was described as soft-spoken and mild mannered in demeanor.[33]

Many of bin Laden's children went to Iran after the September 11 attacks and as of 2010 Iranian authorities reportedly continued to control their movement.[34]

Beliefs and ideology

Main article: Beliefs and ideology of Osama bin Laden

Osama believed that only the restoration of Sharia law would "set things right" in the Muslim world, and that alternatives such as "pan-Arabism, socialism, communism, democracy" must be opposed.[35] This belief, in conjunction with violent jihad, has sometimes been called Qutbism after being promoted by Sayyid Qutb.[36] Osama believed that Afghanistan, under the rule of Mullah Omar's Taliban, was "the only Islamic country" in the Muslim world.[37] Osama consistently dwelt on the need for violent jihad to right what he believed were injustices against Muslims perpetrated by the United States and sometimes by other non-Muslim states,[38] the need to eliminate the state of Israel, and the necessity of forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East. He also called on Americans to "reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury," in an October 2002 letter.[39]

Osama's ideology included the idea that civilians, including women and children, are legitimate targets of jihad.[40][41] Osama was anti-Semitic, and delivered 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."[42] Shia Muslims have been listed along with "heretics, […] America, and Israel" as the four principal "enemies of Islam" at ideology classes of bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.[43]

In keeping with Wahhabi beliefs,[44] Osama opposed music on religious grounds,[45] and his attitude towards technology was mixed. He was interested in "earth-moving machinery and genetic engineering of plants" on the one hand, but rejected "chilled water" on the other.[46]

His viewpoints and methods of achieving them had led to him being designated as a terrorist by scholars,[47][48] journalists from The New York Times,[49][50] the BBC,[51] and Qatari news station Al Jazeera,[52] analysts such as Peter Bergen,[53] Michael Scheuer,[54] Marc Sageman,[55] and Bruce Hoffman[56][57] and he was indicted on terrorism charges by law enforcement agencies in Madrid, New York City, and Tripoli.[58]

Osama's overall strategy against much larger enemies such as the Soviet Union and United States was to lure them into a long war of attrition in Muslim countries, attracting large numbers of jihadists who would never surrender. He believed this would lead to economic collapse of the enemy nation. Al-Qaeda manuals clearly outline this strategy. The Soviet Union collapsed following years of fighting in Afghanistan, and several prominent authors have stated that the United States was on the verge of suffering the same fate, losing countless trillions of dollars to the ongoing conflict. In this sense, some have credited Osama as the one person who was successful in his fight against both of the world superpowers.[59]

Militant activity

Main article: Militant activity of Osama bin Laden
See also: CIA-Osama bin Laden controversy

Mujahideen in Afghanistan

Osama bin Laden with Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir in 1997

After leaving college in 1979 bin Laden joined Abdullah Azzam to fight the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan[60] and lived for a time in Peshawar.[61] From 1979 through 1989 under U.S. Presidents Carter and Reagan, the United States Central Intelligence Agency provided overt and covert financial aid, arms and training to Osama's Islamic Jihad Mujahideen through Operation Cyclone[62] and the Reagan Doctrine. President Reagan often praised the Mujahideen as Afghanistan's "Freedom Fighters."

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[63] paid for air tickets and accommodation, paid for paperwork with Pakistani authorities and provided other such services for the jihad fighters. Bin Laden established a camp in Afghanistan and with other volunteers fought the Soviets.

It was during his time in Peshawar that he began wearing camouflage-print jackets and carrying a captured Soviet assault rifle, which urban legends claimed he had obtained by killing a Russian soldier with his bare hands.[64]

Formation and structuring of Al-Qaeda

Main article: Al-Qaeda

By 1988, bin Laden had split from Maktab al-Khidamat. While Azzam acted as support for Afghan fighters, bin Laden wanted a more military role. One of the main points leading to the split and the creation of al-Qaeda was Azzam's insistence that Arab fighters be integrated among the Afghan fighting groups instead of forming a separate fighting force.[65] Notes of a meeting of bin Laden and others on August 20, 1988, indicate al-Qaeda was a formal group by that time: "Basically an organized Islamic faction, its goal is to lift the word of God, to make His religion victorious." A list of requirements for membership itemized the following: listening ability, good manners, obedience, and making a pledge (bayat) to follow one's superiors.[66]

According to Wright, the group's real name wasn't used in public pronouncements because "its existence was still a closely held secret."[67] His research suggests that al-Qaeda was formed at an August 11, 1988, meeting between "several senior leaders" of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Abdullah Azzam, and bin Laden, where it was agreed to join bin Laden's money with the expertise of the Islamic Jihad organization and take up the jihadist cause elsewhere after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.[68] Following the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan in February 1989, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia in 1990 as a hero of jihad, who along with his Arab legion "had brought down the mighty superpower" of the Soviet Union.[69]

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait under Saddam Hussein on August 2, 1990 put the Saudi kingdom and the House of Saud at risk, with Iraqi forces on the Saudi border and Saddam's appeal to pan-Arabism potentially inciting internal dissent. Bin Laden met with King Fahd, and Saudi Defense Minister Sultan, telling them not to depend on non-Muslim assistance from the United States and others, offering to help defend Saudi Arabia with his mujahideen. Bin Laden's offer was rebuffed, and after the Saudi monarchy invited the deployment of U.S. troops in Saudi territory,[70] Osama publicly denounced Saudi Arabia's dependence on the U.S. military. Osama believed the presence of foreign troops in the "land of the two mosques" (Mecca and Medina) profaned sacred soil. Bin Laden's criticism of the Saudi monarchy led that government to attempt to silence him.

Shortly after Saudi Arabia invited U.S. troops into Saudi Arabia, bin Laden turned his attention to attacks on the West. On November 8, 1990, the FBI raided the New Jersey home of El Sayyid Nosair, an associate of al-Qaeda operative Ali Mohamed, discovering copious evidence of terrorist plots, including plans to blow up New York City skyscrapers. This marked the earliest discovery of al-Qaeda terrorist plans outside of Muslim countries.[71] Nosair was eventually convicted in connection to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and later admitted guilt for the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York on November 5, 1990.

Bin Laden continued to speak publicly against the Saudi government for harboring American troops, for which the Saudis banished him. He went to live in exile in Sudan, in 1992, in a deal brokered by Ali Mohamed.[72]

Sudan and return to Afghanistan

In Sudan, bin Laden established a new base for mujahideen operations in Khartoum. He continued his verbal assault on King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, and in response, on March 5, 1994, Fahd sent an emissary to Sudan demanding bin Laden's passport. His family was persuaded to cut off his $7 million a year stipend.[73] By now bin Laden was strongly associated with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), which made up the core of al-Qaeda. In 1995 the EIJ attempted to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The attempt failed, and the EIJ was expelled from Sudan.

As a result of his dealings in and advocacy of violent extremist jihad, Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship in 1994 and was disowned by his billionaire family.[74]

Sudan also began efforts to expel bin Laden. The 9/11 Commission Report states:

In late 1995, when Bin Laden was still in Sudan, the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) learned that Sudanese officials were discussing with the Saudi government the possibility of expelling Bin Laden. CIA paramilitary officer Billy Waugh tracked down Bin Ladin in the Sudan and prepared an operation to apprehend him, but was denied authorization.[75] US Ambassador Timothy Carney encouraged the Sudanese to pursue this course. The Saudis, however, did not want Bin Laden, giving as their reason their revocation of his citizenship. Sudan's minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Laden 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 Laden. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding.[76]

The 9/11 Commission Report further states:

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 Laden to Saudi Arabia and asked the Saudis to pardon him. US officials became aware of these secret discussions, certainly by March. Saudi officials apparently wanted Bin Laden expelled from Sudan. They had already revoked his citizenship, however, and would not tolerate his presence in their country. Also Bin Laden 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.

In May 1996, under increasing pressure on Sudan, from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States, bin Laden returned to Jalalabad, Afghanistan aboard a chartered flight, and there forged a close relationship with Mullah Mohammed Omar.[77][78] When bin Laden left Sudan, he and his organization were significantly weakened, despite his ambitions and organizational skills.[79] In Afghanistan, bin Laden and al-Qaeda raised money from "donors from the days of the Soviet jihad," and from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to establish more training camps for Mujahideen fighters.[80]

Bin Laden effectively had hijacked Ariana Afghan Airlines, which ferried Islamic militants, arms, cash and opium through the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan as well as provided false identifications to members of bin Laden's terrorist network.[81] Viktor Bout helped to run the airline, maintaining planes and loading cargo. Michael Scheuer, head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, concluded that Ariana was being used as a "terrorist taxi service".[82]

Early attacks and aid for attacks

It is believed that the first bombing attack involving bin Laden was the December 29, 1992 bombing of the Gold Mihor Hotel in Aden in which two people were killed.[83]

It was after this bombing that al-Qaeda was reported to have developed its justification for the killing of innocent people. According to a fatwa issued by Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, the killing of someone standing near the enemy is justified because any innocent bystander will find their proper reward in death, going to Jannah (Paradise) if they were good Muslims and to Jahannam (hell) if they were bad or non-believers.[84] The fatwa was issued to al-Qaeda members but not the general public.

In the 1990s bin Laden's al-Qaeda assisted jihadis financially and sometimes militarily in Algeria, Egypt and Afghanistan. In 1992 or 1993 bin Laden sent an emissary, Qari el-Said, with $40,000 to Algeria to aid the Islamists and urge war rather than negotiation with the government. Their advice was heeded but the war that followed killed 150,000–200,000 Algerians and ended with Islamist surrender to the government.

Bin Laden funded the Luxor massacre of November 17, 1997,[85][86][87] which killed 62 civilians, but outraged the Egyptian public. In mid-1997, the Northern Alliance threatened to overrun Jalalabad, causing bin Laden to abandon his Nazim Jihad compound and move his operations to Tarnak Farms in the south.[88]

Another successful attack was carried out in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. Bin Laden helped cement his alliance with the Taliban by sending several hundreds of Afghan Arab fighters along to help the Taliban kill between five and six thousand Hazaras overrunning the city.[89]

In February 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 which declared the killing of North Americans and their allies an "individual duty for every Muslim" to "liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [in Mecca] from their grip".[90][91] At the public announcement of the fatwa bin Laden announced that North Americans are "very easy targets". He told the attending journalists, "You will see the results of this in a very short time."[92]

In December 1998, the Director of Central Intelligence Counterterrorist Center reported to President Bill Clinton that al-Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the USA, including the training of personnel to hijack aircraft.[93]

Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri organized an al-Qaeda congress on June 24, 1998.[94]

The 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings were a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the major East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The attacks were linked to local members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, brought Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to the attention of the US public for the first time, and resulted in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation placing bin Laden on its Ten Most Wanted list.

At the end of 2000, Richard Clarke revealed that Islamic militants headed by bin Laden had planned a triple attack on January 3, 2000 which would have included bombings in Jordan of the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman and tourists at Mount Nebo and a site on the Jordan River, the sinking of the destroyer USS The Sullivans in Yemen, as well as an attack on a target within the United States. The plan was foiled by the arrest of the Jordanian terrorist cell, the sinking of the explosive-filled skiff intended to target the destroyer, and the arrest of Ahmed Ressam.[95]

Balkan wars

See also: Bosnian mujahideen

A former U.S. State Department official in October 2001 described Bosnia and Herzegovina as a safe haven for terrorists, after it was revealed that militant elements of the former Sarajevo government were protecting extremists, some with ties to Osama bin Laden.[96] In 1997, Rzeczpospolita, one of the largest Polish daily newspapers, reported that intelligence services of the Nordic-Polish SFOR Brigade suspected that a center for training terrorists from Islamic countries was located in the Bocina Donja village near Maglaj in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992, hundreds of volunteers joined an "all-mujahedeen unit" called El Moujahed in an abandoned hillside factory, a compound with a hospital and prayer hall.

According to Middle East intelligence reports, bin Laden financed small convoys of recruits from the Arab world through his businesses in Sudan. Among them was Karim Said Atmani who was identified by authorities as the document forger for a group of Algerians accused of plotting the bombings in the USA.[97] He is a former roommate of Ahmed Ressam, the man arrested at the Canadian-U.S. border in mid-December 1999 with a car full of nitroglycerin and bomb-making materials.[98][99] He was convicted of colluding with Osama bin Laden by a French court.[100]

A Bosnian government search of passport and residency records, conducted at the urging of the United States, revealed other former mujahideen who were linked to the same Algerian group or to other groups of suspected terrorists, and had lived in the area 60 miles (97 km) north of Sarajevo, the capital, in the past few years. Khalil al-Deek, was arrested in Jordan in late December 1999 on suspicion of involvement in a plot to blow up tourist sites; a second man with Bosnian citizenship, Hamid Aich, lived in Canada at the same time as Atmani and worked for a charity associated with Osama bin Laden. In its June 26, 1997 Report on the bombing of the Al Khobar building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, The New York Times noted that those arrested confessed to serving with Bosnian Muslims forces. Further, the captured men also admitted to ties with Osama bin Laden.[101][102][103]

In 1999 it was revealed that bin Laden and his Tunisian assistant Mehrez Aodouni were granted citizenship and Bosnian passports in 1993 by the government in Sarajevo. This information was denied by the Bosnian government following the 9/11 attacks, but it was later found that Aodouni was arrested in Turkey and that at that time he possessed the Bosnian passport. Following this revelation, a new explanation was given that bin Laden "did not personally collect his Bosnian passport" and that officials at the Bosnian embassy in Vienna, which issued the passport, could not have known who bin Laden was at the time.[101][102][103] The Bosnian daily Oslobođenje published in 2001 that three men, believed to be linked to bin Laden, were arrested in Sarajevo in July 2001. The three, one of whom was identified as Imad El Misri, were Egyptian nationals. The paper said that two of the suspects were holding Bosnian passports.[101]

In 1998 it was reported that bin Laden was operating his al-Qaeda network out of Albania. The Charleston Gazette quoted Fatos Klosi, the head of the Albanian intelligence service, as saying a network run by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden sent units to fight in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Confirmation of these activities came from Claude Kader, a French national who said he was a member of bin Laden's Albanian network.

By 1998 four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) were arrested in Albania and extradited to Egypt.[104]

September 11 attacks

See also: September 11 attacks and Videos and audio recordings of Osama bin Laden

"Allah knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers but after the situation became unbearable and we witnessed the injustice and tyranny of the American-Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, I thought about it. And the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed – when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women."

— Osama bin Laden, 2004[105]

After reports of repeated initial denials,[106] in 2004, Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.[107][108][109] The attacks involved the hijacking of four commercial passenger aircraft,[110] the subsequent destruction of those planes and the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, severe damage to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia,[111] and the deaths of 2,974 people and the nineteen hijackers.[112] In response to the attacks, the United States launched a War on Terror to depose the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and capture al-Qaeda operatives, and several countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation to preclude future attacks. The CIA's Special Activities Division was given the lead in tracking down and killing or capturing bin Laden.[113]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated that classified[114] evidence linking al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of September 11 is clear and irrefutable.[115] The UK Government reached a similar conclusion regarding al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden's culpability for the September 11, 2001, attacks although the government report notes that the evidence presented is insufficient for a prosecutable case.[116] Bin Laden initially denied involvement in the attacks. On September 16, 2001, bin Laden read a statement later broadcast by Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite channel denying responsibility for the attack.[117]

In a videotape recovered by US forces in November 2001 in Jalalabad, bin Laden was seen discussing the attack with Khaled al-Harbi in a way that indicates foreknowledge.[118] The tape was broadcast on various news networks on December 13, 2001. The merits of this translation have been disputed. Arabist Dr. Abdel El M. Husseini stated: "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."[119]

In the 2004 Osama bin Laden video, bin Laden abandoned his denials without retracting past statements. In it he stated he had personally directed the nineteen hijackers.[108][120] In the 18-minute tape, played on Al-Jazeera, four days before the American presidential election, bin Laden accused U.S. President George W. Bush of negligence on the hijacking of the planes on September 11.[108]

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.[121]

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

I am the one in charge of the nineteen brothers […] I was responsible for entrusting the nineteen brothers […] with the raids [5 minute audiotape broadcast May 23, 2006],[122]

and is seen with Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 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).[123]

Criminal charges

On March 16, 1998, Libya issued the first official Interpol arrest warrant against bin Laden and three other people. They were charged for killing two German citizens in Libya on March 10, 1994, one of whom is thought to have been a German counter-intelligence officer. Bin Laden was still wanted by the Libyan government at the time of his death.[124][125] Osama bin Laden was first indicted by the United States on June 8, 1998, when a grand jury indicted Osama bin Laden on charges of killing five Americans and two Indians in the November 14, 1995 truck bombing of a US-operated Saudi National Guard training center in Riyadh.[126]

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 fighters worldwide.[126] Bin Laden denied involvement but praised the attack. On November 4, 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 US Nationals Outside the United States, Conspiracy to Murder US Nationals Outside the United States, and Attacks on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death[127] 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, from a phone purchased for him by al-Qaeda procurement agent Ziyad Khaleel in the U.S.[128]

Bin Laden became the 456th person listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, when he was added to the list on June 7, 1999, 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 prior to the bombing of Afghanistan in October 2001.[129] In 1999, US 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 October 10, 2001, bin Laden appeared as well on the initial list of the top 22 FBI 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.

Despite the multiple indictments listed above and multiple requests, the Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden. It wasn't until after the bombing of Afghanistan began in October 2001 that the Taliban finally did offer to turn over Osama bin Laden to a third-party country for trial, in return for the US ending the bombing and providing evidence that Osama bin Laden was involved in the 9/11 attacks. This offer was rejected by George W Bush stating that this was no longer negotiable with Bush responding that "there's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty."[130]

Attempted capture by the United States

US propaganda leaflet used in Afghanistan

Clinton administration

Capturing Osama bin Laden had been an objective of the United States government since the presidency of Bill Clinton.[131] Shortly after the September 11 attacks it was revealed that President Clinton had signed a directive authorizing the CIA (and specifically their elite Special Activities Division) to apprehend bin Laden and bring him to the United States to stand trial after the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Africa; if taking bin Laden alive was deemed impossible, then deadly force was authorized.[132] On August 20, 1998, 66 cruise missiles launched by United States Navy ships in the Arabian Sea struck bin Laden's training camps near Khost in Afghanistan, narrowly missing him by a few hours.[133] In 1999 the CIA, together with Pakistani military intelligence, had prepared a team of approximately 60 Pakistani commandos to infiltrate Afghanistan to capture or kill bin Laden, but the plan was aborted by the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état;[133] in 2000, foreign operatives working on behalf of the CIA had fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a convoy of vehicles in which bin Laden was traveling through the mountains of Afghanistan, hitting one of the vehicles but not the one in which bin Laden was riding.[132]

In 2000, prior to the September 11 attacks, Paul Bremer characterized the Clinton administration as "correctly focused on bin Laden", while Robert Oakley criticized their "obsession with Osama".[95]

Bush administration

According to The Washington Post, the US 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 US to commit enough US ground troops to hunt him led to his escape and was the gravest failure by the US in the war against al-Qaeda. 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.[134]

The Washington Post also reported that the CIA unit composed of their special operations paramilitary forces dedicated to capturing Osama was shut down in late 2005.[135]

US and Afghanistan forces raided the mountain caves in Tora Bora between August 14–16, 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.[136]

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, US government officials named bin Laden and the al-Qaeda organization as the prime suspects and offered a reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture or death.[13][137] On July 13, 2007, this figure was doubled to $50 million.[138]

The Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association had offered an additional $2 million reward.[139]

Obama administration

Members of the Obama administration track the mission that killed bin Laden.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in December 2009 that officials had had no reliable information on bin Laden's whereabouts for years. One week later, General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said in December 2009 that al-Qaeda will not be defeated unless its leader, Osama bin Laden, is captured or killed. Testifying to the U.S. Congress, he said bin Laden had become an "iconic figure, whose survival emboldens al-Qaeda as a franchising organization across the world," and that Obama's deployment of 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan meant that success would be possible. "I don't think that we can finally defeat al-Qaeda until he's captured or killed," McChrystal said of bin Laden. "Killing or capturing bin Laden would not spell the end of al-Qaeda, but the movement could not be eradicated while he remained at large."[140] In April 2011, Obama approved an operation to capture bin Laden. On May 1, 2011 (23:30 EDT), Obama released a statement saying that American forces had killed bin Laden.[141]

Activities and whereabouts after the September 11 attacks

Main article: Location of Osama bin Laden

Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush stated that he now hoped to "kill or capture" bin Laden. Subsequently, Bin Laden retreated further from public contact to avoid capture. Since that time, numerous speculative press reports were issued about his whereabouts or even death. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda continued to release time-sensitive and professionally-verified videos demonstrating bin Laden's continued survival as recently as August 2007.[142] Most recently, U.S. Army General Stanley A. McChrystal had emphasized the continued importance of the capture or killing of bin Laden, thus clearly indicating that the US high command continued to believe that bin Laden was probably still alive. Some of the conflicting reports regarding both his continued whereabouts and previous mistaken claims about his death have included the following:

Many claims as to the location of Osama bin Laden were made in the wake of 9/11, although none were ever definitively proven and some placed Osama in different locations during overlapping time periods. After military offensives in Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 failed to uncover his whereabouts, Pakistan was regularly identified as his suspected hiding place.

A December 11, 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 United States 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.[143][144]

In 2009, a research team led by Thomas W. Gillespie and John A. Agnew of UCLA used satellite-aided geographical analysis to pinpoint three compounds in Parachinar as bin Laden's likely hideouts.[145]

In March 2009, the New York Daily News reported that the hunt for bin Laden had centered in the Chitral District of Pakistan, including the Kalam Valley. According to the report, author Rohan Gunaratna states that captured al-Qaeda leaders have confirmed that Chitral is where bin Laden is hiding.[146]

In the first week of December 2009, a Taliban detainee in Pakistan said he had information that bin Laden was in Afghanistan in 2009. The detainee said that in January or February (of 2009) he met a trusted contact who had seen bin Laden about 15 to 20 days earlier in Afghanistan. However, on December 6, 2009. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that the U.S. had had no reliable information on the whereabouts of bin Laden in years.[147] Pakistan's Prime Minister Gillani rejected claims that Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan.[148]

On February 2, 2010, an anonymous official of the Saudi Foreign Ministry declared that the kingdom had no intention of getting involved in peacemaking in Afghanistan unless the Taliban would sever ties with extremists and expel Osama bin Laden.[149] This condition was announced as the Afghan president Karzai arrived in the kingdom for an official visit, for a discussion of a possible Saudi role in his plan to reintegrate Taliban militants.[149]

On June 7, 2010, the Kuwaiti Al Siyassa reported that bin Laden was hiding in the mountainous town of Savzevar, in north eastern Iran.[150] The Australian newspaper online published the claim on June 9.[151]

On October 18, 2010, an unnamed NATO official suggested that bin Laden was "alive and well and living comfortably" in Pakistan, protected by elements of the country's intelligence services. A senior Pakistani official denied the allegations and said the accusations were designed to put pressure on the Pakistani government ahead of talks aimed at strengthening ties between Pakistan and the United States.[152]

On April 16, 2011, a leaked Al Jazeera report claimed that bin Laden had been captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.[153]

Death

Main article: Death of Osama bin Laden
See also: Reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden
Website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation listing Bin Laden as deceased on the Most Wanted List on May 3, 2011.

On May 1, 2011, in Washington, D.C. (May 2, Pakistan Standard Time), U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed by "a small team of Americans" acting under Obama's direct orders, in a covert operation dubbed Geranimo[154] in Abbottabad, Pakistan,[8][155] about 50 km (31 mi) north of Islamabad.[156] It had been believed that bin Laden was hiding near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas,[157] but he was actually found 100 miles (160 km) away in a million-dollar three-story mansion in Abbottabad[157] at 34°10′9.67″N 73°14′33.60″E / 34.1693528°N 73.2426667°E / 34.1693528; 73.2426667.[158] Bin Laden's mansion was located 0.75 miles (1.21 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy (Pakistan's "West Point").[159][160][161][162] Google Earth maps show that the compound was not present in 2001, but was present on images taken in 2005.

U.S. officials reported that a team of 20–25 U.S. Navy SEALs from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (SEAL Team Six),[163] under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command and working with the CIA, stormed bin Laden's compound in two helicopters. Bin Laden, three other men, and a woman were killed in a firefight in which U.S. forces did not experience any injuries or casualties.[164] In his broadcast announcement President Obama said that U.S. forces "took care to avoid civilian casualties."[165] According to one U.S. official the attack was carried out without the knowledge or consent of Pakistani authorities.[166] In contrast, agents of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) said it was a joint operation.[167]

Among those killed in the raid were one of bin Laden's sons, a man described as a courier, and the courier's brother. Four years of surveillance of the courier led to the intelligence which made the raid possible. It was reported that the courier was the owner of the compound where the assault took place.[105] The day after the raid John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief, said that the woman that was killed was one of bin Laden's four wives and was being used as a human shield at the time.[168][166] Two other women, who were also used as shields, were injured during the raid.[105] However, the next day White House spokesperson, Jay Carney, said that bin Laden's wife had rushed the invading commandos and was shot in the leg, but was not killed. He also said that the al-Qaeda leader put up resistance, but was unarmed. Bin Laden was shot twice. A shot above his left eye blew away a part of his skull. He was also hit in the chest.[169]

DNA from bin Laden's body, compared with DNA samples on record from his dead sister's brain[170] confirmed bin Laden's identity the following day according to assertions to ABC News by unnamed sources.[171] The 193 cm long body[172] was recovered by the U.S. military and was in its custody[155] until his body was buried in the North Arabian Sea from the USS Carl Vinson, within 24 hours of his death in accord with Islamic traditions.[156][173][174] One U.S. official stated that, "finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult."[175] MSNBC reported, "There also was speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants."[176]

The U.S. State Department issued a "worldwide caution" for Americans following bin Laden's death and U.S diplomatic facilities everywhere were placed on high alert, a senior U.S official said.[177][178] Crowds gathered outside the White House, in New York City's Times Square, as well as the World Trade Center, the site of the September 11 Attacks, to celebrate bin Laden's death.[179] Chittral News, a Pakistani news site, claimed that some people were dismayed that Pakistan has lost its sovereignty.[180]

Pakistan's alleged role in hiding Osama bin Laden

Main article: Allegations of support network in Pakistan for Osama bin Laden

Critics have accused Pakistan's military and security establishment of protecting bin Laden.[181] For example Mosharraf Zaidi, a leading Pakistani columnist stated “It seems deeply improbable that bin Laden could have been where he was killed without the knowledge of some parts of the Pakistani state,” [182] This issue is expected to worsen US ties with Pakistan.[183][184] Bin Laden was killed in what some suggest was his residence for at least three years.[185] It was an expensive compound,[186] probably built for him[187] and less than 100 kilometres' drive from the capital.

Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari has denied that his country's security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden.[188][189] Pakistan's US envoy, ambassador Husain Haqqani, promises a "full inquiry" into how Pakistani intelligence services failed to find bin Laden in a fortified compound, just a few hours drive from Islamabad, and stated that "obviously bin Laden did have a support system, the issue is was that support system within the government and the state of Pakistan or within the society of Pakistan?"[190]

See also

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References

Footnotes
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Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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