
Osama
bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden (born 10 March 1957), well-known
as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden,
is an Islamic terrorist, who is believed to be the founder
of the Jihadist organization: Al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden
was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His father Muhammed Awad
bin Laden was a wealthy businessman with close ties to the
Saudi royal family. He studied economics and business administration
at King Abdulaziz University. At university, bin Laden's
main interest was religion, where he was involved in both
"interpreting the Quran and jihad" and charitable
work.
In 1974, at the age of seventeen, bin Laden married his
first wife Najwa Ghanem at Latakia. Bin Laden is reported
to have married four other women and he has fathered anywhere
from 12 to 24 children.
Like other Islamists and Islamic fundamentalists, Bin Laden
believes that the restoration of Sharia law will set things
right in the Muslim world, and that all other ideologie
must be opposed. He believes Afghanistan under the rule
of Mullah Omar's Taliban was "the only Islamic country"
in the Muslim world. He is very anti-Jewish and he, always,
stated the hope to eliminate the state of Israel.
Militant activity of Osama bin Laden:
- Bin Laden's wealth and connections assisted his interest
in supporting the mujahideen, Muslim guerrillas fighting
the Soviet Union in Afghanistan
- Alleged CIA involvement (Osama bin Laden and his group
are "blowback" from CIA's Operation Cyclone to
help the Afghan mujahideen is a matter of some debate)
- Formation of Al-Qaeda
- Refuge in Afghanistan
- Attacks on United States targets: it is believed that
the first terrorist attack involving bin Laden was the 29
December 1992, bombing of the Gold Mihor Hotel in Aden,
Yemen; he has been indicted in United States federal court
for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings
in Dar es Salaam Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, and is on
the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted
Fugitives list.
- Responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks (the
FBI stated that evidence linking Al-Qaeda and bin Laden
to the attacks of September 11 is clear and irrefutable).
Reports of his death: Reports alleging Osama bin Laden's
death have circulated since late 2001.
April 2005: The Sydney Morning Herald stated
"Dr Clive Williams, director of terrorism studies at
the Australian National University, says documents provided
by an Indian colleague suggested bin Laden died of massive
organ failure in April last year … 'It's hard to prove
or disprove these things because there hasn't really been
anything that allows you to make a judgment one way or the
other', Dr. Williams said."[
August 2006: On 23 September 2006, the
French newspaper L'Est Républicain quoted a report
from the French secret service (DGSE) stating that Osama
bin Laden had died in Pakistan on 23 August 2006
November 2007: In an interview with political
interviewer David Frost, taken on November 2, 2007, the
Pakistani politician, and Pakistan Peoples Party chairwoman,
Benazir Bhutto, claimed that bin Laden had been murdered
by Omar Sheikh.
Peculiarity:
Left-hander
|