Photos Biography
Osama bin Laden is the world's most wanted terrorist, most recently linked to the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which killed approximately 5,000 people.
Bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to a Yemeni family in 1957. His late father owned a major Saudi construction business and bin Laden became immensely wealthy through his inheritance, estimated at over $250 million.
But, despite growing up in privilege, bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 to join rebels fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Ironically, the Afghan resistance was primarily backed by American dollars and military aid. According to Middle Eastern analyst Hazhir Teimourian, bin Laden even received training from the CIA itself.
While fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, bin Laden founded the Maktab al-Khidimat. The MAK recruited Muslim fighters from around the world and sought out military aid to use in the struggle.
However, according to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who spent time with Afghani freedom fighters, as early as 1988 "bin Laden was so crazy that he wanted to kill Americans as much as he wanted to kill Russians."
In 1989, bin Laden founded al Qaeda ("The Base"). It wouldn't be long before al Qaeda transformed itself into an international terrorist network and began carrying out attacks on U.S. interests around the world.
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Osama bin Laden is the world's most wanted terrorist, most recently linked to the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which killed approximately 5,000 people.
Bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to a Yemeni family in 1957. His late father owned a major Saudi construction business and bin Laden became immensely wealthy through his inheritance, estimated at over $250 million.
But, despite growing up in privilege, bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 to join rebels fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Ironically, the Afghan resistance was primarily backed by American dollars and military aid. According to Middle Eastern analyst Hazhir Teimourian, bin Laden even received training from the CIA itself.
While fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, bin Laden founded the Maktab al-Khidimat. The MAK recruited Muslim fighters from around the world and sought out military aid to use in the struggle.
However, according to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who spent time with Afghani freedom fighters, as early as 1988 "bin Laden was so crazy that he wanted to kill Americans as much as he wanted to kill Russians."
In 1989, bin Laden founded al Qaeda ("The Base"). It wouldn't be long before al Qaeda transformed itself into an international terrorist network and began carrying out attacks on U.S. interests around the world.
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