Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) Biography, Family

Quick Info

Profession	Terrorist
Nationality	Saudi Arabian
Date of Birth	10/03/1957
Age	54 years (died on 02, May, 2011)
Birthplace	Riyadh, Riyadh Mintaqah, Saudi Arabia
Date of Death	02/05/2011

You can vote only once.

Full Name	Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden
Nickname(s)	The Emir, Laden, The Prince, The Sheik, The Jihadist Sheik, Sheik al-Mujahid, Hajj, Lion Sheik
Known For	Founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda; mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon; orchestration of numerous terrorist attacks worldwide including the 2000 USS Cole bombing

School	Brummana High School, Lebanon Al-Thager Model School, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
College/University	King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Degrees	Economics and Business Administration Civil Engineering Public Administration

Place of Death	Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Religion	Islam
Caste/Sect	Sunni
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian
Hobbies	Writing Poetry Reading Playing Football Horse-riding

Marital Status	Married

Father	Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Yemeni Business Tycoon)
Mother	Hamida al-Attas
Siblings	51 siblings
Wives/Spouses	Najwa Ghanem (1974-2001) Khadijah Sharif (1983-1990s) Khairiah Sabar (married 1985) Siham Sabar (married 1987) Amal al-Sadah (married 2000)
Children	Abdallah Abdul Rahman Saad (1979–2009) Omar Osman Mohammed Fatima Zulki Laden Zakaria Nour Ali Amer Aisha Hamza Khalid (1988–2011) Kadhija Miriam Sumaiya

Controversies	Masterminding the 9/11 attack Several other attacks orchestrated by Al-Qaeda 2000 suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in Aden, Yemen 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya Indicted in United States federal court; listed on FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
Key Milestones	1979: Joined mujahideen during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 1979: Co-founded Maktab al-Khidmat (Bureau of Services) with former professor to recruit foreign fighters and raise funds 1988: Founded al-Qaeda as multinational Muslim alliance devoted to Islamist jihad 1992-1996: Led al-Qaeda operations in Afghan Civil War, Algerian Civil War, and Bosnian War from Sudan 1996: Forced to leave Sudan under US and Saudi pressure; returned to Afghanistan 1996-2001: Established training camps in Afghanistan with Taliban support 2000: Orchestrated USS Cole bombing in Yemen 2001: Masterminded September 11 attacks killing 2,977 victims 2011: Killed by US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Controversies

Masterminding the 9/11 attack
Several other attacks orchestrated by Al-Qaeda
2000 suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in Aden, Yemen
1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya
Indicted in United States federal court; listed on FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

Key Milestones

1979: Joined mujahideen during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
1979: Co-founded Maktab al-Khidmat (Bureau of Services) with former professor to recruit foreign fighters and raise funds
1988: Founded al-Qaeda as multinational Muslim alliance devoted to Islamist jihad
1992-1996: Led al-Qaeda operations in Afghan Civil War, Algerian Civil War, and Bosnian War from Sudan
1996: Forced to leave Sudan under US and Saudi pressure; returned to Afghanistan
1996-2001: Established training camps in Afghanistan with Taliban support
2000: Orchestrated USS Cole bombing in Yemen
2001: Masterminded September 11 attacks killing 2,977 victims
2011: Killed by US Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Favourite Army Personnels	Bernard Montgomery Charles de Gaulle
Favourite Football Club	Arsenal

Assets/Properties	Inherited $29 million of his father's business

1. His father's tenth wife was his mother.
2. He was brought up as a devout Sunni Muslim.
3. She offered assistance to the jihadist movement during the conflict with the Soviet Union.
4. Hostility was evident in her feelings towards the United States.
5. Her beliefs were marked by anti-Semitic and anti-Western ideologies.
6. He did not watch films or listen to popular music, believing such activities violated Qur'anic teachings.
7. He was radicalized during the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
8. He was not formally trained as a cleric but issued his own interpretations of the Qur'an and Islamic law.
9. He asserted that any action was justified in the defense of Islam, including attacks on civilians.
10. He believed Muslims should kill civilians and military personnel from the United States and allied countries until they withdrew support for Israel and military forces from the Muslim world.