Osama bin Laden, son of a Saudi multimillionaire, inherited millions at age 11. He formed Al Qaeda after the Soviet-Afghan conflict and plotted against the Saudi royal family. He declared war on the US in 1996 and was placed on the Ten Most Wanted list in 1999. He is linked to many terrorist attacks, including 9/11, and remained at large on the fifth anniversary of the attacks.
Osama bin Laden, also called by some Osama, is one of many children born to Saudi multimillionaire Mohammed Awad bin Laden. Osama, the seventeenth child of more than fifty sired by the elderly bin Laden, enjoyed his father’s wealth and connections. He is college educated and worked for a time in the family construction business known as the bin Laden Group. As one of many heirs, Osama inherited millions of dollars when his father died in a plane crash in 1968. Osama bin Laden was eleven years old.
Around the age of 22, bin Laden became involved in the Soviet-Afghan conflict. After the defeat of the Russians in 1988, he formed Al Qaeda, which shortly after became a global network. Al Queda means “the base” and is aligned with many other groups also named in the US list of known terrorist organizations.
As the world became more unstable, US troops took up positions in Saudi Arabia, which angered Osama bin Laden. He plotted against and tried to overthrow the ruling royal family. He was expelled and later stripped of his citizenship in 1994. Around the same time, bin Laden was thought to be planning attacks in Sudan. However, as US government pressure on Sudan’s leadership increased, bin Laden once again returned to Afghanistan, joining forces with the Taliban.
During that time, bin Laden’s anti-American language became increasingly threatening. In 1996, bin Laden declared war or “jihad” against the United States, calling on Muslims around the world to unite to remove “heretics” from the Arabian peninsula. Bin Laden was interviewed by reporters and occasionally released videotapes warning of further attacks against America and its allies. In 1999 he was placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. This is a list of the most wanted fugitives, produced by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Osama bin Laden has threatened Christians, Jews and even other Muslims who he does not deem up to his standards or who do not share his radicalized Islamic beliefs. There is evidence linking Osama bin Laden and his Al Queda network, as well as several other terrorist organizations, to many attacks, including the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States in which thousands of Americans were brutally murdered. On the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden was still at large.
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