Osama bin Laden "Osama" and "Bin Laden" redirect here. For other uses, see Osama (disambiguation) and Bin Laden (disambiguation). Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن, romanized: Usāma bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin; 10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi Arabian-born Islamist dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, he participated in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union and supported the activities of the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Bin Laden is considered to have been the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks in the United States. Osama bin Laden أسامة بن لادن  Bin Laden in 1988 1st General Emir of al-QaedaIn office 11 August 1988 – 2 May 2011Preceded byPosition establishedSucceeded byAyman al-ZawahiriPersonal detailsBorn Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden 10 March 1957 Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaDied2 May 2011 (aged 54) Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PakistanCause of deathGunshot woundCitizenshipStateless (1994–2011) Saudi Arabia (until 1994)Spouses Najwa Ghanem ​ ​ (m. 1974; sep. 2001)​ Khadijah Sharif ​ ​ (m. 1983; div. 1990)​ Khairiah Sabar   ​ (m. 1985)​ Siham Sabar   ​ (m. 1987)​ Amal Ahmed al-Sadah ​ ​ (m. 2000)​ Children20–26; including Abdallah, Saad, Omar and HamzaParents Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (father) Hamida al-Attas (mother) RelativesBin Laden familyReligionIslam (Sunni Islam)[1][2][3][4]Military serviceAllegiance Maktab al-Khidamat (1984–1988) Al-Qaeda (1988–2011) Years of service1984–2011RankGeneral Emir of al-QaedaBattles/wars Soviet–Afghan War Battle of Jaji Afghan Civil War Battle of Jalalabad War on terror War in Afghanistan Battle of Tora Bora Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Operation Neptune Spear † Osama was born in Riyadh to the aristocratic bin Laden family. He studied at local universities until 1979, when he joined the Afghan mujahidin against the Soviet Union in the wake of the Afghan–Soviet War. In 1984, he co-founded Maktab al-Khidamat which recruited foreign mujahidin into the war. He founded al-Qaeda in 1988 for worldwide jihad. In the Gulf War (1990–1991), Bin Laden's offer for support against Iraq was rebuked by the Saudi royal family, which instead sought American aid. Bin Laden's views on pan-Islamism and anti-Americanism resulted in his expulsion from Saudi Arabia in 1991. He subsequently shifted his headquarters to Sudan until 1996 when he left the country to establish a new base in Afghanistan, where he was supported by the Taliban. Bin Laden declared two fatawa, the first in August 1996, and the second in February 1998, declaring holy war against the United States. He orchestrated the 1998 United States embassy bombings in East Africa. He was then listed on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists and Most Wanted Fugitives lists. In October 1999, the United Nations designated al-Qaeda as a terrorist organization. Bin Laden was the organizer of the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. This resulted in the United States invading Afghanistan, which launched the war on terror. Bin Laden became the subject of nearly a decade-long multi-national manhunt led by the United States. During this period, he hid in several mountainous regions of Afghanistan and later escaped to neighboring Pakistan. On 2 May 2011, Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special operations forces at his compound in Abbottabad. His corpse was buried in the Arabian Sea and he was succeeded by his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri on 16 June 2011. Bin Laden grew to become an influential ideologue who inspired several Islamist organizations. He was considered a war hero due to his role in successfully opposing the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and offered an articulate voice and organizational structure to many across the Islamic region harboring grievances against Western imperialism, often having approval ratings in some countries higher than those of national leaders. Nonetheless, his justification and orchestration of attacks against American civilian targets, such as the September 11 attacks, made him a highly reviled figure in the United States, where public opinion largely views Bin Laden as a symbol of terrorism and mass murder

• published: 10 Sep 2024
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