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{{Redirect4|Osama|bin Laden|other uses|[[Osama (disambiguation)]] and [[bin Laden (disambiguation)]]}}
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{{Infobox military person
| name = '''Osama bin Laden'''<br />{{lang|ar|أسامة بن لادن}}
| image = [[File:Fbibinladen.jpg]]
| caption =
| born = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1957|03|10}}
| died = {{Death date and age|2011|05|01|1957|01|10}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| placeofbirth = [[Riyadh]], [[Saudi Arabia]]
| placeofdeath = [[Abbottabad]], [[Pakistan]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| religion = [[Wahhabi]] [[Sunni]] Islam
| nationality = [[Saudi Arabia]]n
| ethnicity = [[Saudi]]
| nickname =
| allegiance = [[Al-Qaeda]]
| branch =
| serviceyears =
| rank =
| servicenumber =
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = '''[[Soviet war in Afghanistan]]'''<br />'''[[War on Terror]]''':
*[[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]]
*[[War in North-West Pakistan]]
| battles_label =
| awards =
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
'''Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden''' ({{lang-ar|أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن}}, ''{{transl|ar|DIN|ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin}}''; March 10, 1957 – May 1, 2011) was a member of the wealthy [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] [[bin Laden family]] and the founder of the [[jihadism|jihadist]] organization [[al-Qaeda]], most widely recognized for the [[September 11 attacks]] on the United States and numerous other [[Mass-casualty incident|mass-casualty]] [[Timeline of al-Qaeda attacks|attacks]] against civilian and military targets. As a result of his dealings in and advocacy of violent extremist [[jihad]], Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship and was disowned by his billionaire family.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/2001/09/14/0914ladenmoney.html The Cost Of Being Osama Bin Laden] retrieved 15th of March 2011</ref>

Bin Laden was on the American [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s lists of [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives|Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]] and [[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists|Most Wanted Terrorists]] due to his involvement in the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|1998 US embassy bombings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm |title=FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives |publisher=FBI.gov |accessdate=2010-05-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080103044553/http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm |archivedate = January 3, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082700687.html |title=Bin Laden, Most Wanted For Embassy Bombings? |publisher=The Washington Post |author=Dan Eggen |date=August 28, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref><ref name="cnnterrorlist">{{cite news | url=http://articles.cnn.com/2001-10-10/us/inv.mostwanted.list_1_saif-al-adel-abdul-rahman-yasin-ahmed-khalfan-ghailani?_s=PM:US | title='Most wanted terrorists' list released | accessdate=April 03, 2011 | date=October 10, 2001 | publisher=CNN}}</ref>

Since 2001, Osama bin Laden and his organization had been major targets of the U.S. [[War on Terror]]. Bin Laden and fellow al-Qaeda leaders were believed to be hiding near the border of [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]]'s [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]]. On May 1, 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that bin Laden was dead,<ref name="DeathNYT">{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?_r=1&hp |title=Bin Laden Dead, US Officials Say |newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref> and that the United States was in possession of his corpse.<ref name="bbcdead">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13256676 |title=BBC News - Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden 'dead' |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2001-09-11 |accessdate=2011-05-02}}</ref>

==Variations of bin Laden's name==
There is no universally accepted standard in the West for [[transliteration|transliterating]] Arabic words and names into English, so bin Laden's name is spelled in many different ways. The version translation most often used by English-language mass media is ''Osama bin Laden''. Most American government agencies, including the FBI and [[Central Intelligence Agency|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 last two words of the name can also be found as "''Binladen''" or (as used by his family in the West) "''Binladin''". The spelling with "o" and "e" comes from a Persian-influenced pronunciation used in Afghanistan where he lived for a long time.

Strictly speaking, Arabic [[natural language|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 long form means "Osama, son of Mohammed, son of 'Awad, son of Laden". Still, "bin Laden" has become nearly universal in Western references to him.

Bin Laden's admirers commonly use several aliases and nicknames, including ''the Prince''/''Al-Amir'', ''the [[Sheikh]]'', ''Abu Abdallah'', ''Sheikh Al-Mujahid'', the ''Lion Sheik'',<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090700279.html | work=The Washington Post | title=In a New Video, Bin Laden Predicts U.S. Failure in Iraq |first=Joby |last=Warrick |date=September 8, 2007 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> ''the Director''.<ref name="fbiwantednotice">{{cite web|url=http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm |title=Most Wanted Terrorist – Usama Bin Laden |publisher=FBI |accessdate=2010-05-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060310055924/http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm |archivedate = March 10, 2006}}</ref>

==Childhood, education and personal life==
{{Main|Childhood, education and personal life of Osama bin Laden}}
{{See also|Bin Laden family}}
Osama bin Laden was born in [[Riyadh]], Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html |title=Frontline: Hunting Bin Laden: Who is Bin Laden?: Chronology |publisher=[[PBS]] |accessdate=2010-05-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060210192537/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html |archivedate = February 10, 2006}}</ref> In a 1998 interview, he gave his birth date as March 10, 1957.<ref>{{cite web|title=Osama bin Laden |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/osama_bin_laden.htm |work=GlobalSecurity.org |date=January 11, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> His father [[Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden]] was a wealthy businessman with close ties to the [[Saudi royal family]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/osamabinladen.html |title=Osama bin Laden infoplease |publisher=[[Infoplease]] |author=David Johnson |accessdate=2010-05-26 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080120224312/http://www.infoplease.com/spot/osamabinladen.html |archivedate = January 20, 2008}}</ref> Osama bin Laden was born the only son of Muhammed bin Laden's tenth wife, [[Hamida al-Attas]].<ref name="newyorker.com">{{Cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/12/12/051212fa_fact |title=Letter From Jedda: Young Osama- How he learned radicalism, and may have seen America |publisher=The New Yorker |author=Steve Coll |date=December 12, 2005 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref>
Osama's parents divorced soon after he was born; Osama's mother then married Muhammad al-Attas. The couple had four children, and Osama lived in the new household with three half-brothers and one half-sister.<ref name="newyorker.com" />

Bin Laden was raised as a devout [[Wahhabi]] Muslim.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Beyer |first=Lisa |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101010924/wosama.html |work=Time |title=The Most Wanted Man In The World |date=September 24, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> From 1968 to 1976 he attended the "élite" secular [[Al-Thager Model School]] along with lifelong friends Anthony Kardous and Enos Fingy.<ref name="newyorker.com" /><ref>Bergen, Peter. ''The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader''. Free Press, 2006, p. 52</ref> Bin Laden studied economics and [[business administration]]<ref>''[[Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden]]'', Verso, 2005, p. xii.</ref> at [[King Abdulaziz University]]. Some reports suggest bin Laden earned a degree in [[civil engineering]] in 1979,<ref>[http://galenet.galegroup.com ''Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement''], Vol. 22. Gale Group, 2002. (link requires username/password)</ref> or a degree in [[public administration]] in 1981.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/bio.html |title=A Biography of Osama Bin Laden |publisher=PBS Frontline |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> Other sources describe him as having left university during his third year,<ref name="gunaratna-22">{{Cite book|title=Inside Al Qaeda |author=Gunaratna, Rohan |publisher=Berkley Books |year=2003 |edition=3rd |page=22 |isbn=0231126921}}</ref>
never completing a college degree, though "hard working."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10855 |title=The Real Osama |publisher=The American Prospect |date=January 19, 2006 |author=Aziz Hug |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> At university, bin Laden's main interest was religion, where he was involved in both "interpreting the [[Quran]] and [[jihad]]" and charitable work.<ref>Wright, ''Looming Tower'', (2006), p. 79.</ref> He also writes poetry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7630934.stm |title=Analysing Bin Laden's jihadi poetry |publisher=BBC News |author=Michael Hirst |date=September 24, 2008 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref>

In 1974, at the age of 17, bin Laden married his first wife [[Najwa Ghanem]] at [[Latakia]].<ref>{{Cite news
|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/13/news/mn-3564
|title=Bin Laden Kin Wait and Worry
|author=Michael Slackman
|date=November 13, 2001
|publisher=Los Angeles Times
|accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> According to CNN national security correspondent David Ensore, as of 2002 bin Laden had married four women and fathered roughly 25 or 26 children.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0203/12/ltm.10.html |title=Bin Laden's Women |publisher=CNN |date=March 12, 2002 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref>
Other sources report that he has fathered anywhere from 12 to 24 children.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/OsamabinLaden.htm |title=Profile: Osama bin Laden |publisher=About.com |author=Amy Zalman, Ph.D. |date= |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref>

His father, Muhammed bin Laden, was killed in 1967 in an airplane crash in Saudi Arabia when his American pilot misjudged a landing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,544921,00.html |title=Interview with US Author Steve Coll: 'Osama bin Laden is Planning Something for the US Election' |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]]|date= |accessdate=2011-01-26}}</ref> His eldest half-brother and head of the bin Laden family, [[Salem bin Laden]], was killed in 1988 when he accidentally flew a plane into powerlines near San Antonio, Texas, USA.

==Beliefs and ideology==
{{Main|Beliefs and ideology of Osama bin Laden}}

Bin Laden believed that the restoration of [[Sharia]] law will set things right in the Muslim world, and that all other ideologies—"[[pan-Arabism]], socialism, communism, [[democracy]]"—must be opposed.<ref>''Messages'', 2005, p. 218. "Resist the New Rome, audiotape delivered to al-Jazeera and broadcast by it on 2004-01-04.</ref> These beliefs, along with violent expansive jihad, have sometimes been called [[Qutbism]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm |title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism |publisher=[[Parameters (journal)|Parameters]] |author=Dale C. Eikmeier |pages=85–98 |date=Spring 2007 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> He believes Afghanistan under the rule of [[Mohammed Omar|Mullah Omar]]'s [[Taliban]] was "the only Islamic country" in the Muslim world.<ref>''Messages'', (2005), p. 143. from an interview published in ''[[Al-Quds Al-Arabi]]'' in London November 12, 2001 (originally published in Pakistani daily, ''[[Ausaf]]'', Nov. 7.</ref> Bin Laden has consistently dwelt on the need for violent jihad to right what he believes are injustices against Muslims perpetrated by the United States and sometimes by other non-Muslim states,<ref>''Messages to the World'', (2005), pp. xix, xx, editor Bruce Lawrence.</ref> the need to eliminate the state of [[Israel]], and the necessity of forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East. He has also called on Americans to "reject the immoral acts of [[fornication]] (and) [[homosexuality]], [[intoxicant]]s, [[gambling]], and [[usury]]," in an October 2002 letter.<ref>October 6, 2002. Appeared in Al-Qala'a website and then the London Observer 2002-11-24.</ref>

Probably the most infamous part of Bin Laden's ideology was that civilians, including women and children, are legitimate targets of jihad.<ref>''Messages'', (2005) p. 70. ''Al Jazeera'' interview, December 1998, following Kenya and Tanzania embassy attacks.</ref><ref>''Messages'', (2005), p. 119, October 21, 2001 interview with Taysir Alluni of Al Jazeera.</ref> Bin Laden is [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]], and has 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."<ref>''Messages'', (2005), p. 190. from 53-minute audiotape that "was circulated on various websites." dated February 14, 2003. "Among a Band of Knights."</ref> [[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.<ref>from interview with [[Ali Soufan]] – a [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]] Sunni FBI agent – by Wright, Wright, ''[[Looming Tower]]'' (2006), p. 303.</ref>

In keeping with Wahhabi beliefs,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Klebnikov |first=Paul |title=Who Is Osama bin Laden? |url=http://www.forbes.com/2001/09/14/0914whoisobl.html |publisher=Forbes |date=September 14, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> bin Laden opposed music on religious grounds,<ref>Wright, ''Looming Tower'' (2006), p. 167.</ref> and his attitude towards technology is mixed. He was interested in "earth-moving machinery and [[genetic engineering]] of plants" on the one hand, but rejected "chilled water" on the other.<ref>Wright, ''Looming Tower'' (2006), p. 172.</ref>

His viewpoints and methods of achieving them had led to him being designated as a "[[terrorist]]" by scholars,<ref>''Osama: The Making of a Terrorist'' John Randal I B Tauris & Co Ltd (2005-10-04).</ref><ref>''A Capitol Idea'' Donald E. Abelson p. 208.</ref> journalists from the New York Times,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/us/nationalspecial3/08padilla.html?_r=1&sq=islamist%20osama&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&scp=7&adxnnlx=1214784198-I4IcWDM+QsboskeLb729pg |title=Mysteries, Legal and Sartorial, at Padilla Trial |publisher=The New York Times |author=Abby Goodnough |date=July 8, 2007 |accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/world/after-the-attacks-the-strategy-a-new-war-and-its-scale.html?sec=&spon=&&scp=7&sq=%22terrorist%20osama%20%22&st=cse |title=AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE STRATEGY; A New War And Its Scale |publisher=The New York Times |author=Michael R. Gordon |date=September 17, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref> the [[BBC]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7412036.stm |title=Is global terror threat falling? |publisher=BBC News |author= |date=May 21, 2008 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref> and Qatari news station [[Al Jazeera]],<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2008/08/20088161083773835.html "Osama bin Laden's operation" has "perpetrated the worst act of terrorism ever witnessed on US soil."]{{Dead link|date=May 2010}}</ref> analysts such as [[Peter Bergen]],<ref>''[[The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader]]'', [[Peter Bergen]] Free Press 2006-08-08.</ref> [[Michael Scheuer]],<ref>''Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America'' [[Michael Scheuer]] Potomac Books Inc. 2006-01-15.</ref> [[Marc Sageman]],<ref>''Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century'' [[Marc Sageman]] [[University of Pennsylvania Press]] 2008-01-03.</ref> and Bruce Hoffman<ref>{{Cite news|url= |title=Redefining Counterterrorism: The Terrorist Leader as CEO |publisher=RAND Review |author=Bruce Hoffman |date=Spring 2004 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref><ref>''A Devil's Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons Of Mass Destruction, And Rogue States'' Peter Brookes Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.</ref> and he was indicted on terrorism charges by law enforcement agencies in [[Madrid]], New York City, and [[Tripoli]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interpol.int/Public/Data/Wanted/Notices/Data/1998/32/1998_20232.asp |title=Wanted: Usama Bin Laden |publisher=[[Interpol]] |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

==Militant activity==
{{Main|Militant activity of Osama bin Laden}}
{{See also|CIA-Osama bin Laden controversy}}

===Mujahideen in Afghanistan===
[[File:Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden.jpg|Bin Laden with Pakistani journalist [[Hamid Mir]] in 1997.|thumb|right]]
After leaving college in 1979 bin Laden joined [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam|Abdullah Azzam]] to fight the [[Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/155236.stm |title=Who is Osama Bin Laden?|publisher=BBC News |date=September 18, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref> and lived for a time in [[Peshawar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fufor.twoday.net/stories/2302873/ |title=Photo: Zbigniew Brzezinski & Osama bin Laden |date=March 23, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

By 1984, with Azzam, bin Laden established [[Maktab al-Khadamat]], which funneled money, arms and [[Afghan arabs|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. Osama established a camp in Afghanistan, and with other volunteers fought the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]].

It was during his time in Peshawar that he began wearing [[camouflage|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.<ref name="katz">Katz, Samuel M. "Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists", 2002.</ref>

===Formation and structuring of Al-Qaeda===
{{Main|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.<ref>''The Osama bin Laden I Know'' by Peter L. Bergen, pp. 74–88. ISBN 0-7432-7892-5.</ref>
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 (''[[Bay'at|bayat]]'') to follow one's superiors.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|pp=133–134}}.</ref>

According to Wright, the group's real name wasn't used in public pronouncements because "its existence was still a closely held secret."<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=260}}.</ref> His research suggests that al-Qaeda was formed at an August 11, 1988, meeting between "several senior leaders" of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam|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.<ref name="RebellionWright">{{Harvnb|Wright|2008}}.</ref> 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.<ref>Wright, Lawrence, ''Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11,'' by Lawrence Wright, NY, Knopf, 2006 p. 146.</ref> The Iraqi [[invasion of Kuwait]] on August 2, 1990 had put the kingdom and its ruling [[House of Saud]] at risk. The world's most valuable [[oil field]]s were within easy striking distance of Iraqi forces in Kuwait, and Saddam's call to pan-Arab/Islamism could potentially rally internal dissent. bin Laden met with [[Fahd of Saudi Arabia|King Fahd]], and Sultan, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia, telling them not to depend on non-Muslim troops, and offered to help defend Saudi Arabia with his [[mujahideen]] fighters. Bin Laden's offer was rebuffed, and after the American offer to help repel Iraq from Kuwait was accepted, involving deploying U.S. troops in Saudi territory,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jehl |first=Douglas |title= A Nation Challenged: Holy war lured Saudis as rulers looked Away |publisher=The New York Times |date=December 27, 2001 |pages= A1, B4 |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/27/world/a-nation-challenged-saudi-arabia-holy-war-lured-saudis-as-rulers-looked-away.html |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref> he publicly denounced Saudi Arabia's dependence on the U.S. military, as he 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 of Saudi Arabia|government]] to attempt to silence him.

Shortly after Saudi Arabia permitted U.S. troops on Saudi soil, 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 a great deal of evidence of terrorist plots, including plans to blow up New York City skyscrapers, marking the earliest uncovering of al Qaeda plans for such activities outside of Muslim countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tkb.org/CaseHome.jsp?caseid=332 |title=USA v. Omar Ahmad Ali Abdel-Rahman et al: 93-CR-181-KTD |publisher=MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base |accessdate=2010-05-28 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080109221029/http://www.tkb.org/CaseHome.jsp?caseid=332 |archivedate = January 9, 2008}}</ref> Nosair was eventually convicted in connection to the 1993 [[World Trade Center bombing]], and for the murder of Rabbi [[Meir Kahane]] 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.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Abdullah Assam: The Man Before Osama Bin Laden
|author=Steve Emerson
|url=http://www.iacsp.com/itobli3.html
|accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

===Sudan and return to Afghanistan===
In Sudan, bin Laden established a new base for mujahideen operations, in [[Khartoum]].

Bin Laden 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 monthly stipend, the equivalent of $7 million a year.<ref>Wright, ''Looming Towers'' (2006), p. 195.</ref> By now bin Laden was strongly associated with [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] (EIJ), which made up the core of al-Qaeda. In 1995 the EIJ [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad#Mubarak assassination attempt|attempted to assassinate]] Egyptian President [[Hosni Mubarak]]. The attempt failed, and the EIJ was expelled from Sudan.

Sudan also began efforts to expel bin Laden. The 9/11 Commission Report states:<blockquote>"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.<ref>Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism] 2004.</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch4.pdf |format=PDF |title=Responses to Al Qaeda's Initial Assaults |publisher=9/11 Commission |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref></blockquote>
The [[9/11 Commission Report]] further states:<blockquote>"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."</blockquote>

In May 1996, under increasing pressure on Sudan, from Saudi Arabia, [[Egypt]], and the United States, bin Laden returned to [[Jalalabad|Jalalabad, Afghanistan]] aboard a chartered flight, and there forged a close relationship with Mullah [[Mohammed Omar]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/dec/06/news/mn-12224 |title=Fighters Hunt Former Ally |publisher=Los Angeles Times |author=Megan K. Stack |date=December 6, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1550419.stm
|title=Profile: Mullah Mohamed Omar |date=September 18, 2001 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref> When Bin Laden left Sudan, he and his organization were significantly weakened, despite his ambitions and organizational skills.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch2.pdf |format=PDF |title=The Foundation of the New Terrorism |publisher=9/11 Commission |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>
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 .<ref>Wright, ''Looming Towers'' (2006), p. 250.</ref>

===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.<ref name="pbschronology">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html |title=Who is bin Laden?: Chronology |publisher=PBS |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

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.<ref>testimony of Jamal al-Fadl, US v. Usama bin Laden, et al.</ref> 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 [[Algerian Civil War#Massacres and reconciliation|war]] that followed killed 150,000–200,000 Algerians and ended with Islamist surrender to the government.

Another effort by bin Laden was the funding of the [[November 1997 Luxor massacre|Luxor massacre of November 17, 1997]],<ref>Jailan Halawi, `bin Laden behind Luxor Massacre?` ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', May 20–26, 1999.</ref><ref>{{Cite news
|first = Barbara
|last = Plett
|title = Bin Laden 'behind Luxor massacre'
|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/343207.stm
|publisher = BBC News
|date = May 13, 1999
|accessdate = 2010-05-28
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news
|first =
|last =
|coauthors =
|title = Profile: Ayman al-Zawahiri
|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1560834.stm
|publisher = BBC News
|date = September 27, 2004
|accessdate = 2010-05-28
}}</ref> which killed 62 civilians, but so revolted the Egyptian public that it turned against Islamist terror. In mid-1997, the [[United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan|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.<ref name="arkChark">Testimony of [[Abdurahman Khadr]] as a witness in the trial against Charkaoui, 2004-07-13.</ref>

A later effort that did succeed was an attack on the city of [[Mazar-e-Sharif]] in Afghanistan. Bin Laden helped cement his alliance with his hosts the Taliban by sending several hundred of his Afghan Arab fighters along to help the Taliban kill between five and six thousand [[Hazaras]] overrunning the city.<ref>Rashid, ''Taliban'', p. 139.</ref>

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]] 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".<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/fatw2.htm
|title = World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders: Initial "Fatwa" Statement
|author = Shaykh Usamah Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin
|coauthors = Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu-Yasir Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, Shaykh Mir Hamzah, Fazlur Rahman
|date = February 23, 1998
|publisher = al-Quds al-Arabi
|language = Arabic
|accessdate = 2010-05-28
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm
|title = Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. World Islamic Front Statement
|author = Shaykh Usamah Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin
|coauthors = Ayman al-Zawahiri, Abu-Yasir Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, Shaykh Mir Hamzah, Fazlur Rahman
|date = February 23, 1998
|publisher = al-Quds al-Arabi
|accessdate = 2010-05-28
}} English language version of the fatwa translated by the [[Federation of American Scientists]] of the [http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/fatw2.htm original Arabic document published in the newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi (London, U.K.) on 1998-02-23, p. 3].</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Van Atta | first = Dale
| authorlink = Dale Van Atta
| title = Carbombs & cameras: the need for responsible media coverage of terrorism
| journal = Harvard International Review
| publisher = Harvard International Relations Council
| location = Cambridge, Mass.
| year = 1998
| volume = 20
| issue = 4
| page = 66
| issn = 0739-1854
| isbn = 9780895264855
| url=http://www.allbusiness.com/public-administration/national-security-international/709509-1.html
|accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

In December 1998, the [[Director of Central Intelligence]] Counterterrorist Center reported to the president that al-Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the USA, including the training of personnel to hijack aircraft.<ref>{{cite web
| title = Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks
| date = December 4, 1998
| accessdate = 2010-05-28
| publisher = [[Director of Central Intelligence]]
| url = http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0001110635/0001110635_0001.gif }}</ref>

At the end of 2000, [[Richard A. Clarke|Richard Clarke]] revealed that Islamic militants headed by bin Laden had planned a [[2000 millennium attack plots|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 (Jordan)|Mount Nebo]] and a site on the [[Jordan River]], the sinking of the destroyer [[USS The Sullivans|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]].<ref name="post2"/>

===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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20011015&slug=bosnia15 |title=Bosnia — base for terrorism |publisher=The Seattle Times |author=Craig Pyes, Josh Meyer and William C. Rempel |date=October 15, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref> In 1997, ''[[Rzeczpospolita (newspaper)|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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/50933336.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Mar+11%2C+2000&author=R.+Jeffrey+Smith&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.01&desc=A+Bosnian+Village%27s+Terrorist+Ties%3B+Links+to+U.S.+Bomb+Plot+Arouse+Concern+About+Enclave+of+Islamic+Guerrillas |title=A Bosnian Village's Terrorist Ties |publisher=The Washington Post |author=R. Jeffrey Smith |date=March 11, 2000 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref> 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.<ref name="csisAlmrei">[[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]], Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Hassan Almrei, 2008-02-22.</ref><ref>{{Cite book
|last = Baravalle
|first = Giorgio
|coauthors =
|title = Rethink: Cause and Consequences of September 11
|publisher = de-MO
|year = 2004
|page = 584
|isbn = 0970576862}}</ref> He was convicted of colluding with Osama bin Laden by a French court.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aina.org/news/20050817121245.htm |title=Jihadists find convenient base in Bosnia |publisher=Assyrian International News Agency |author=Sherrie Gossett |date=August 17, 2005 |accessdate=2010-05-25 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20051217231929/http://www.aina.org/news/20050817121245.htm |archivedate = December 17, 2005}}</ref>

A Bosnian government search of passport and residency records, conducted at the urging of the United States, revealed other former mujahideen who are linked to the same Algerian group or to other groups of suspected terrorists who have lived in this area {{convert|60|mi|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.<ref name="Bin Laden’s Balkan Connections">{{cite web|url=http://www.balkanpeace.org/index.php?index=/content/analysis/a09.incl |title=Bin Laden’s Balkan Connections |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">BIN LADEN WAS GRANTED BOSNIAN PASSPORT, Agence France Presse 1999-09-24.</ref><ref name="query.nytimes.com">{{Cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E0DA103DF930A1575AC0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=Outsiders Bring Islamic Fervor To the Balkans |publisher=The New York Times |author=Chris Hedges |date=September 23, 1996 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref>

In 1999 it was revealed that Osama bin Laden and his Tunisian assistant Mehrez Aodouni were granted citizenship and [[Bosnian passport]]s 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.<ref name="Bin Laden’s Balkan Connections"/><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="query.nytimes.com"/> The Bosnian daily ''[[Oslobođenje]]'' published in 2001 that three men, believed to be linked to Osama Bin Laden, were arrested in Sarajevo in July 2001. The three, one of whom was identified as Imad El Misri, were [[Egypt]]ian nationals. The paper said that two of the suspects were holding Bosnian passports.<ref name="Bin Laden’s Balkan Connections"/>

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 [[SHISH|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 at the urging of the CIA. It is believed that the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Africa occurred as retaliation for these arrests.<ref>Jane Mayer, The Dark Side, Doubleday. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-385-52639-5 (0-385-52639-3).</ref>

===September 11 attacks===
{{See also|September 11 attacks|Videos and audio recordings of Osama bin Laden}}

{{quotation|"[[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-[[Israel]]i 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<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/oct/30/alqaida.september11 |title=God knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers |date=October 30, 2004 |publisher=The Guardian |location=London |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref>}}

After reports of repeated initial denials,<ref>[[n:Wikileaks obtains 10 years of messages, interviews from Osama bin Laden translated by CIA|CIA translations of bin Laden messages and interviews]] at Wikinews, 15 September 2008</ref> in 2004 Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082700687.html |title=Bin Laden, Most Wanted For Embassy Bombings? |author=Eggen, Dan |publisher=The Washington Post |date=August 28, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref><ref name="cbc-2004">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2004/10/29/binladen_message041029.html |title=Bin Laden claims responsibility for 9/11 |publisher=CBC News |date=October 29, 2004 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1550477.cms |title=Osama claims responsibility for 9/11 |publisher=The Times of India |date=May 24, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref> The attacks involved the hijacking of four commercial passenger aircraft,<ref>[[United Airlines Flight 93]], [[United Airlines Flight 175]], [[American Airlines Flight 11]], and [[American Airlines Flight 77]].</ref> 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]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/25/moussaoui.trial/ |title= 9/11 jurors face complex life or death decisions |publisher=CNN |author=Phil Hirschkorn |date=April 26, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref> and the deaths of 2,974 people and the [[Hijackers in the September 11 attacks|nineteen hijackers]].<ref><!--{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/25/moussaoui.trial/ |title=2006 9/11 Death Toll |date=April 2006 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2006-09-07}}<br />* INCORRECT URL FOR THIS TITLE-->
{{Cite news|url=http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/STATISTIC.asp |title=September 11, 2001 Victims |date=August 22, 2006 |publisher=September 11 Victims |accessdate=2010-05-25 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060822065313/http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/STATISTIC.asp |archivedate = August 22, 2006}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070225002233/www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/index.html |title=World Trade Center |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2010-05-25}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page88.html |title=Pentagon |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2010-05-25 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061007052917/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page88.html |archivedate = October 7, 2006}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page93.html |title=American Airlines Flight 11 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2010-05-25 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060910182819/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page93.html |archivedate = September 10, 2006}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20061102153706/www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page96.html |title=American Airlines Flight 77 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2010-05-25}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070225040159/www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page98.html |title=United Airlines Flight 93 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2010-05-25}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070204011658/www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-location/page100.html |title=United Airlines Flight 175 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=2010-05-25}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20011028flt93mainstoryp7.asp |title=Flight 93: Forty lives, one destiny |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=October 28, 2001 |author=Dennis B. Roddy |accessdate=2010-05-25 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20031008115441/http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20011028flt93mainstoryp7.asp |archivedate = October 8, 2003}}</ref> 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.<ref>CIA Secret Program: PM Teams Targeting Al Qaeda, Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2009, A1.</ref>

The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] has stated that classified<ref>President Bush, Secretary of the Treasury O'Neill and [[Secretary of State]] Powell, White House news release, September 24, 2001.</ref> evidence linking Al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of September 11 is clear and irrefutable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/watson020602.htm |title=The Terrorist Threat Confronting the United States, Congressional Testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence |author=Watson, Dale L., Executive Assistant Director, Counter terrorism/Counterintelligence Division, FBI |date=February 6, 2002 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |accessdate=2010-05-28}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/number10.gov.uk/archive/2003/05/september-11-attacks-culpability-document-3682 |title=Responsibility for the Terrorist Atrocities in the United States, September 11, 2001 |publisher=10 Downing Street, Office of the Prime Minister of the UK |date=May 15, 2003 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite news|coauthors=Carl Cameron, Marla Lehner, Paul Wagenseil |agency=Associated Press |title=Pakistan to Demand Taliban Give Up Bin Laden as Iran Seals Afghan Border |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34440,00.html |publisher=Fox News |date=September 16, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Bin Laden on tape: Attacks 'benefited Islam greatly' |publisher=CNN |date=December 14, 2001 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/ret.bin.laden.videotape/ |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20021218105636/www.wdr.de/tv/monitor/beitraege.phtml?id=379 |title=Bin-Laden-Video: Falschübersetzung als Beweismittel? |publisher=WDR, Das Erste, MONITOR Nr. 485 am |date=December 20, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

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.<ref name="cbc-2004"/><ref>{{Cite news|title = Al-Jazeera: Bin Laden tape obtained in Pakistan |publisher=MSNBC |date=October 30, 2004 |url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6363306/ |accessdate=2010-05-28}}—''"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> 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 [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacking]] of the planes on September 11.<ref name="cbc-2004"/>

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>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3966817.stm |title=Excerpts: Bin Laden video |publisher=BBC News |author= |date=October 29, 2004 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

In two other tapes aired by Al Jazeera in 2006, Osama bin Laden announces,<blockquote>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],<ref>[http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wotape0524,0,4826927.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlines] Newsday.{{Dead link|date=May 2010}}</ref></blockquote> 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).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/09/07/al-qaeda-tape.html |title=Bin Laden 9/11 planning video aired |publisher=CBC News |date=September 7, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref>

==Criminal charges==
On March 16, 1998, [[Libya]] issued the first official [[Interpol]] [[arrest warrant]] against Bin Laden and three other people for killing two German citizens in Libya on March 10, 1994, one of which is thought to have been a German [[counter-intelligence]] officer. Bin Laden is still wanted by the [[Libyan government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_56a.html
|title=Was Libyan WMD Disarmament a Significant Success for Nonproliferation? |author=Sammy Salama |publisher=NTI |date = September 2004|accessdate=2010-05-28}}</ref><ref>Interpol Arrest Warrant File No. 1998/20232, Control No. A-268/5-1998. Brisard Jean-Charles, Dasquie Guillaume. “Forbidden Truth.” (New York: Thunder Mouth Press, 2002), p. 156.</ref> 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.<ref name="cron">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html |title=Osama bin Laden: A Chronology of His Political Life |accessdate=2006-07-25 |author=Frontline |authorlink=Frontline (TV series) |coauthors= The New York Times and Rain Media |year=[2001?] |work=Hunting bin Laden: Who Is bin Laden? |publisher=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]] Educational Foundation}}</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 fighters worldwide.<ref name="cron"/> 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''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/binladen/usbinladen1.pdf |format=PDF|title=Indictment #S(9) 98 Cr. 1023 |publisher=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, from a phone purchased for him by al-Qaeda procurement agent [[Ziyad Khaleel]] in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/02/14/embassy.bombing.02/index.html |title=Embassy bombing defendant linked to bin Laden |publisher=CNN |date=2001-02-14}}</ref>

Bin Laden became the [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1990s|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 punishment|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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/217947.stm |title=Osama bin Laden 'innocent' |date=November 21, 1998 |publisher=BBC News |author=William Reeve |accessdate=2010-05-27}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5 |title=Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over |publisher=guardian.co.uk |author= |date=October 14, 2001 |accessdate=2010-05-27 |location=London}}</ref>

==Attempted capture by the United States==
[[File:US PsyOps leaflet.jpg|right|thumb|300px|US propaganda leaflet used in Afghanistan]]

===Clinton administration===
Capturing Osama bin Laden has been an objective of the United States government since the presidency of [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/24/clinton.binladen/index.html |title=Bill Clinton: I got closer to killing bin Laden |publisher=CNN |author= |date=September 25, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-27 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061005001828/http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/24/clinton.binladen/index.html |archivedate = October 5, 2006}}</ref> 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.<ref name="cbs"/> 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.<ref name="post"/> 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]];<ref name="post">"[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/AR2007111800629.html CIA Trained Pakistanis to Nab Terrorist But Military Coup Put an End to 1999 Plot]", [[Washington Post]], 2001-10-03.</ref> 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.<ref name="cbs">"[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/09/16/national/main311490.shtml Report: Clinton Targeted Bin Laden]", [[CBS News]], 2001-09-16.</ref>

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".<ref name="post2">{{Cite news|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/65601030.html?dids=65601030:65601030&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+24%2C+2000&author=Vernon+Loeb&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.02&desc=Planned+Jan.+2000+Attacks+Failed+or+Were+Thwarted%3B+Plot+Targeted+U.S.%2C+Jordan%2C+American+Warship%2C+Official+Says |title=Planned Jan. 2000 Attacks Failed or Were Thwarted |publisher=The Washington Post |author=Vernon Loeb |date=December 24, 2000 |accessdate=2010-05-25}} (mirrored at [http://www.powmadeak47.com/terror/dzterr001224bs.html]. Retrieved 2010-05-25.</ref>

===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.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gellman |first1=Barton |last2=Ricks |first2=Thomas E. |title=U.S. Concludes Bin Laden Escaped at Tora Bora Fight |url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62618-2002Apr16 |date=April 17, 2002 |accessdate=2010-05-25 |publisher=The Washington Post}}</ref> It is believed{{By whom|date=April 2011}} Bin laden escaped into the Tribal areas across the border into Pakistan.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}

''The Washington Post'' also reported that the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] unit composed of their special operations paramilitary forces dedicated to capturing Osama was shut down in late 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/04/AR2006070400375.html |work=The Washington Post |title=CIA Reportedly Disbands Bin Laden Unit |agency=Associated Press |date=July 4, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref>

US and Afghanistan forces raided the mountain caves in [[Tora Bora]] between 14–16 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>{{Cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21000298/ |title=Bin Laden may have just escaped U.S. forces |publisher=MSNBC |author=Justin Balding, Adam Ciralsky, Jim Miklaszewski and Robert Windrem |date=September 26, 2007 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref>

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.<ref name="fbiwantednotice" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov03/laden110503.htm |title=Five Years Ago Today – Usama bin Laden: Wanted for Murder |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |date=November 5, 2003 |accessdate=2010-05-27 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080109080055/http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov03/laden110503.htm |archivedate = January 9, 2008}}</ref> On July 13, 2007, this figure was doubled to $50 million.<ref name="BBCJuly07">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6898075.stm |title=Senate doubles Bin Laden reward |publisher=BBC News |date=July 13, 2007 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref>

The [[Airline Pilots Association]] and the [[Air Transport Association]] are offering an additional $2 million reward.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Katie Turner, Pam Benson, Peter Bergen, Elise Labott and Nic Robertson |publisher=CNN |date=September 24, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-25 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/23/france.binladen/index.html |title=Officials, friends can't confirm Bin Laden death report}}</ref>

===Obama administration===
U.S. Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] said in December 2009 that officials have 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."''<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8402138.stm |title=Gen McChrystal: Bin Laden is key to al-Qaeda defeat |publisher=BBC News |author= |date=9 December 2009 |accessdate=2010-05-25}}</ref>

==Conflicting reports of his death and his survival since 9/11==

{{Mergesectionto|Death of Osama bin Laden}}

Shortly after the attacks of [[9/11]], then US president George W. Bush issued a statement that as a consequence of the 9/11 attacks, he now hoped to "kill or capture" Bin Laden. Subsequently, Bin Laden retreated further from public contact as an obviously defensive measure against potential US capture. Since that time, numerous speculative press reports have been issued concerning various hearsay stories about his whereabouts, and also about alleged evidence of his supposed death. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda has continued to release time sensitive and professionally verified videos demonstrating Bin Laden's continued survival as recently as August 2007.<ref>{{cite web
| date = September 6, 2007
| url = http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_EKAnlECgMVCrglrdYA5IqvQ6hQ
| title= Experts warn of attack clues in Bin Laden video
| accessdate = 2010-05-25 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080408035426/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h_EKAnlECgMVCrglrdYA5IqvQ6hQ |archivedate = April 8, 2008}} Bin Laden video release authenticity discussed.
</ref>
Most recently, US General McChrystal emphasized the continued importance of the capture or killing of Bin Laden, thus clearly indicating that the US high command continues to believe that Bin Laden is probably still alive. Following are some of these conflicting reports regarding both his claimed death, and his claimed continued whereabouts:

== Death ==

'''May 2011''' ''[[The New York Times]]'' announced Osama Bin Laden has been killed.<ref name="DeathNYT"/> '''May 2011''' ''[[The New York Times]]'' announced Osama Bin Laden has been killed.<ref name="DeathNYT"/> At 03:35 [[UTC]] on March 2nd, US President [[Barack Obama]] announced, in a press conference, that the Al Qaeda leader had been killed, after being tracked down in a compound close to [[Islamabad]] in Pakistan.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13256884</ref>

===Reports of whereabouts===
{{Main|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. Since a major military offensive in Afghanistan in the wake of the 2001 al Qaeda attacks in the United States failed to uncover his whereabouts, Pakistan had regularly been 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]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101083.html?nav=rss_world/mideast/iraq |title=Letter Gives Glimpse of Al-Qaeda's Leadership |publisher=Washington Post |author=Karen DeYoung |date=October 2, 2006 |accessdate=2010-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/CTC-AtiyahLetter.pdf |format=PDF |title=Letter Exposes New Leader in Al-Qa`ida High Command (PDF) |publisher=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point |date=2006-09-25 |accessdate=2010-05-20 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070808182757/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/CTC-AtiyahLetter.pdf |archivedate = August 8, 2007}}</ref>

In 2009 a research team led by Thomas W. Gillespie and [[John A. Agnew]] of [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] used satellite-aided geographical analysis to pinpoint three compounds in [[Parachinar]] as bin Laden's likely hideouts.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Gillespie, Thomas W. et al. |title=Finding Osama bin Laden: An Application of Biogeographic Theories and Satellite Imagery |url=http://web.mit.edu/mitir/2009/online/finding-bin-laden.pdf |journal=MIT International Review |format=PDF |year=2009 |accessdate=2010-05-20}}</ref>

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.<ref>Meek, James Gordon, "Tighten The Net On Evil", ''[[New York Daily News]]'', 2009-03-15, p. 27.</ref>

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. But, the US has had no reliable information on the whereabouts of Bin Laden in years, US Defense Secretary [[Robert Gates]] admitted on December 6, 2009.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8397684.stm No Bin Laden information in years, says Gates]. Retrieved 2010-05-20.</ref> Pakistan's Prime Minister [[Yousaf Raza Gillani|Gillani]] rejected claims that Osama bin Laden would be hiding within his country.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/03/pakistan.bin.laden/index.html Bin Laden not in Pakistan, PM says]. Retrieved 2010-05-20.</ref>

On January 15, 2010, the FBI published digitally aged pictures of Osama bin Laden showing what he may look like after a decade of aging. Spanish newspaper [[El Mundo (Spain)|''El Mundo'']] revealed that a picture of a Spanish politician, [[Gaspar Llamazares]], was taken from [[Google images]] and used to create the image. The FBI has admitted to this and removed the image from its website. Llamazares has responded by stating that he was "stupefied by the FBI's decision to use his photograph to compose its latest image of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden" and that he is considering taking legal action if the FBI does not provide an explanation.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011601597.html]{{Dead link|date=May 2010}}</ref> An internal investigation has been launched by the FBI to find out if this was done intentionally.<ref>[http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/01/16/internacional/1263598044.html El FBI admite que usó rasgos de Llamazares para 'su' Bin Laden por un error humano | Mundo | elmundo.es]. Retrieved 2010-05-20.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8463657.stm |title=Spanish MP's photo 'used for Osama Bin Laden poster' |date=January 16, 2010 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=2010-05-20}}</ref>

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. This condition was announced as the Afghan president [[Hamid Karzai|Karzai]] arrived in the kingdom for an official visit, for a discussion of a possible Saudi role in his plan to reintegrate Taliban militants.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020201084.html Saudi Arabia wants Taliban to expel bin Laden].{{Dead link|date=May 2010}}</ref>

On June 7, 2010, the Kuwaiti Al Siyassa reported that Bin Laden was hiding in the mountainous town of [[Savzevar]], in north eastern [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=4338&param=GJN |title=Kuwaiti Daily 'Al-Siyassa': Bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri Guarded by Iranian Troops in Iranian Territory |publisher=Memrijttm.org |date=2010-06-07 |accessdate=2011-01-26}}</ref> The Australian newspaper online published the claim on June 9.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/bin-laden-aides-hiding-in-iran/story-fn3dxity-1225877288776|title=Bin Laden, aides 'hiding in Iran'}}</ref>

On October 18, 2010, an unnamed NATO official suggested that bin Laden is "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 they were designed to put pressure on the Pakistani government ahead of talks aimed at strengthening ties between Pakistan and the United States.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8070836/Osama-bin-Laden-living-comfortably-in-Pakistan.html|title=Osama bin Laden 'living comfortably in Pakistan' |publisher=Telegraph | location=London|first=Rob|last=Crilly|date=October 18, 2010}}</ref>

On May 1, 2011, bin Laden was confirmed dead after an impromptu White House press conference.<ref>{{cite news|title=Osama Bin Laden Is Dead|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704569404576297941397558496.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|accessdate=2 May 2011|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=1 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Body of Osama Bin Laden found - US official|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Body-of-Osama-Bin-Laden-found---reports/tabid/417/articleID/209418/Default.aspx|accessdate=2 May 2011|newspaper=3 News|date=2 May 2011}}</ref>

==Death==
{{Main|Death of Osama bin Laden}}
{{current|section}}
{{Wikinews|Osama bin Laden dead, report US officials}}
On May 1, 2011, it was reported that bin Laden was killed during a U.S. military action.<ref>{{cite news |title=Osama bin Laden, the face of terror, killed in Pakistan |last= |first= |work=CNN.com |publisher=The Cable News Network |date=2011-05-01 |accessdate=2011-05-01 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/01/bin.laden.obit/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1}}</ref> DNA from bin Laden's body, compared with DNA samples on record from his dead sister, confirmed bin Laden's identity. The body was recovered by the US military and is currently in its custody.<ref name="abc death">{{cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed/story?id=13505703|title=Osama Bin Laden Killed by US Strike|publisher=[[ABC News]]|date=1 May 2011}}</ref>

On this same day, at 23:40 pm EDT, President Obama addressed the nation affirming earlier confirmation by US officials that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a covert operation in [[Abbottabad]], Pakistan.<ref name="abc death"/>. Obama indicated this was done by a small team that acted on his orders on that date.

==Criticism of Osama bin Laden==
{{Main|Criticism of Osama bin Laden}}
[[Salafism|Salafist]] Muslims have criticized bin Laden for adherence to [[Qutbism]] (the ideology of [[Sayyid Qutb]]), [[takfir]] and [[Kharijites|Khaarijite]] deviance. Critics are said to include Muhammad Ibn Haadee al-Madkhalee, [[Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz]], Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan and [[Muqbil bin Haadi al-Waadi'ee]]. In August 2010, [[Fidel Castro]] claimed that bin Laden is a spy employed by the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Fidel Castro claims Osama bin Laden is a US spy|author= |first=Chris |last= McGreal|authorlink=Chris McGreal |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/27/fidel-castro-osama-bin-laden-us-spy
|newspaper= [[The Guardian]] |date=27 August 2010 |quote= |location=London}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Afghan civil war]]
*[[Fatawā of Osama bin Laden]]
*[[Islamic fundamentalism]]
*[[Islamic mujahid movement]]
*[[Islamic terrorism]]
*[[Islamofascism]]
*[[Destructive cult#Terrorism|Osama bin Laden as destructive Cult leader]]
*[[Osama bin Laden in popular culture]]
*[[The Golden Chain]]
*[[The World's 10 Most Wanted]]
*[[Videos and audio recordings of Osama bin Laden]]
{{div col end}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last = Bergen |first = Peter|coauthor= |year =2006 |title =The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader
|url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=_XkM92XMlQ4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Osama+bin+Laden&hl=en&ei=gSK-TbzJNOTV0QGV9eirCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false|publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn= 0743295927|accessdate = }}
* {{cite book |last =Lawrence |first =Wright |coauthor= |year =2006 |title =The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda And The Road To 9/11 |url =http://books.google.ca/books?id=RNkj-mO-Nt8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Looming+Tower:+Al-Qaeda+And+The+Road+To+9/11&hl=en&ei=lh6-TcfuOajV0QG00rm4BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false |publisher=New York: Knopf |isbn= 1400030846 |accessdate = }}
* {{cite book |last =Scheuer |first =Michael |coauthor= |year =2002 |title =Through Our Enemies' Eyes |url =http://books.google.ca/books?id=sK0n1UoN9gAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Through+Our+Enemies%27+Eyes&source=bl&ots=z8bzznSJ-z&sig=t6uVoQr5-8og__hX3IIVQ0J3Oq4&hl=en&ei=ex6-TZfaMubr0QHiv43nBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false |publisher= Washington, D.C.: Brassey's|isbn= 1574885537|accessdate = }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last = Berner|first = Brad K|coauthor= |year = 2007|title = Quotations from Osama Bin Laden|url =http://books.google.ca/books?id=ytwlNcIqYs0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Osama+bin+Laden&hl=en&ei=LCK-TcnaFqb00gGlroi9BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q&f=false |publisher=Peacock Books |isbn= 8124801134|accessdate = }}
* {{cite book |last =Bin Laden |first =Osama |coauthor= Bruce Lawrence|year = 2005|title =Messages to the world: the statements of Osama Bin Laden |url =http://books.google.ca/books?id=3_fRlEZoaioC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Osama+bin+Laden&hl=en&ei=FiG-TdX_Asjj0gG-qZjnBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false |publisher=Verso |isbn= 1844670457|accessdate = }}
* {{cite book |last = Scheuer |first = Michael|coauthor= |year =2011 |title =Osama Bin Laden |url =http://books.google.ca/books?id=Vt-a30Z4_UUC&lpg=PP1&dq=Osama%20bin%20Laden&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn= 0199738661 |accessdate = }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|Osama bin Laden|s=Author:Osama bin Laden}}
*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/ Hunting Bin Laden] – PBS Frontline (Nov. 2002)
*[http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ubl-fbis.pdf FBIS Report, Compilation of Usama Bin Laden Statements 1994 – January 2004]
*[http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/laden.htm FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives poster]
*[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/12/12/051212fa_fact?currentPage=all ''New Yorker'' article on Osama's youth], December 12, 2005
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'], 24 November 2002
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/155236.stm Who is Osama bin Laden], BBC News, 6 December 2009
*{{Guardiantopic|world/osamabinladen}}
*{{NYTtopic|people/b/osama_bin_laden}}

{{Osama bin Laden}}
{{War on Terror}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2010}}

{{Persondata
|NAME=Osama bin Laden
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden (full name); أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن (Arabic); Laden, Osama bin (alternate form); Bin Laden, Usama (alternate transliteration); UBL (common referent); Bin Ladin, Ussamah (alternate transliteration); Ben Laden, Oussama (alternate transliteration); Binladen, Osama (alternate transliteration); Binladin, Osama (alternate transliteration); Al-Amir (alias); Abu Abdallah (alias); Mujahid, Sheikh Al- (alias)
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Al-Qaeda leader
|DATE OF BIRTH=March 10, 1957
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Riyadh]], [[Saudi Arabia]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laden, Osama Bin}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Abdullah Yusuf Azzam]]
[[Category:Afghan Civil War]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda founders]]
[[Category:Civil engineers]]
[[Category:FBI Most Wanted Terrorists]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted on terrorism charges]]
[[Category:Islamic terrorism]]
[[Category:Osama bin Laden| ]]
[[Category:People involved in the Soviet war in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:People of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)]]
[[Category:Salafis]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian anti-communists]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabia expatriates]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian poets]]
[[Category:September 11 attacks]]
[[Category:War on Terror]]
[[Category:Current FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda propagandists]]

{{Link GA|sv}}
{{Link FA|ceb}}

[[af:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ar:أسامة بن لادن]]
[[an:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ast:Osama bin Laden]]
[[az:Usama Bin Ladin]]
[[bn:ওসামা বিন লাদেন]]
[[zh-min-nan:Osama bin Laden]]
[[map-bms:Usamah bin Ladin]]
[[be:Усама бін Ладэн]]
[[be-x-old:Усама бін Ладэн]]
[[bcl:Osama bin Laden]]
[[bs:Osama bin Laden]]
[[br:Ousama ben Laden]]
[[bg:Осама бин Ладен]]
[[ca:Ossama bin Laden]]
[[ceb:Osama bin Laden]]
[[cs:Usáma bin Ládin]]
[[cy:Osama bin Laden]]
[[da:Osama bin Laden]]
[[pdc:Osama bin Laden]]
[[de:Osama bin Laden]]
[[et:Usāmah ibn Lādin]]
[[el:Οσάμα μπιν Λάντεν]]
[[es:Osama bin Laden]]
[[eo:Usama bin Laden]]
[[ext:Osama bin Laden]]
[[eu:Osama bin Laden]]
[[fa:اسامه بن لادن]]
[[hif:Osama bin Laden]]
[[fo:Osama bin Laden]]
[[fr:Oussama ben Laden]]
[[fy:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ga:Osama bin Laden]]
[[gl:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ko:오사마 빈라덴]]
[[hy:Ուսամա բեն Լադեն]]
[[hi:ओसामा बिन लादेन]]
[[hr:Osama bin Laden]]
[[io:Osama bin Laden]]
[[id:Usamah bin Ladin]]
[[ia:Osama bin Laden]]
[[is:Osama bin Laden]]
[[it:Osama bin Laden]]
[[he:אוסאמה בן לאדן]]
[[jv:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ka:ოსამა ბინ ლადენი]]
[[ku:Usama bin Ladin]]
[[la:Usama bin Ladin]]
[[lv:Osama bin Ladens]]
[[lb:Osama Bin Laden]]
[[lt:Osama bin Ladenas]]
[[li:Usâmah bin Lâdin]]
[[hu:Oszáma bin Láden]]
[[mk:Осама бин Ладен]]
[[ml:ഉസാമ ബിൻ ലാദൻ]]
[[mr:ओसामा बिन लादेन]]
[[ms:Osama bin Laden]]
[[mwl:Osama bin Laden]]
[[my:အိုစမာ ဘင်လာဒင်]]
[[nl:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ja:ウサーマ・ビン・ラーディン]]
[[no:Osama bin Laden]]
[[nn:Osama bin Laden]]
[[oc:Osama bin Laden]]
[[uz:Usoma bin Lodin]]
[[pnb:اسامہ بن لادن]]
[[ps:اسامه بن لادن]]
[[nds:Osama bin Laden]]
[[pl:Usama ibn Ladin]]
[[pt:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ro:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ru:Усама бин Ладен]]
[[sco:Osama bin Laden]]
[[sq:Bin Laden]]
[[scn:Osama bin Laden]]
[[simple:Osama bin Laden]]
[[sk:Usáma bin Ládin]]
[[sl:Osama bin Laden]]
[[szl:Usama ibn Ladin]]
[[so:Usaama bin Laadin]]
[[sr:Осама бин Ладен]]
[[sh:Osama bin Laden]]
[[fi:Osama bin Laden]]
[[sv:Usama bin Ladin]]
[[tl:Osama bin Laden]]
[[ta:உசாமா பின் லாதின்]]
[[te:ఒసామా బిన్ లాదెన్]]
[[th:อุซามะห์ บิน ลาดิน]]
[[tr:Usame bin Ladin]]
[[uk:Осама бен Ладен]]
[[ur:اسامہ بن لادن]]
[[vi:Osama bin Laden]]
[[war:Osama bin Laden]]
[[yi:אסאמא בין לאדען]]
[[yo:Osama bin Laden]]
[[zh-yue:賓拉登]]
[[bat-smg:Osama bin Ladens]]
[[zh:奥萨玛·本·拉登]]

Revision as of 03:49, 2 May 2011

Osama Bin Laden was killed by Ronald McDonald.

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